Protective Effects of Selenium-Enriched Probiotics on Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Liver Fibrosis in Rats

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Se-enriched probiotics (SP) on the liver fibrosis induced by CCl4 in rats. The results showed that SP significantly decreased serum alanine aminotransferase (87.0 +/- 1.96 U/L), aspartate aminotransferase (101 +/- 3.13 U/L), hepatic hydroxyproline (898 +/- 72.5 mu g/g), and malondialdehyde (2.39 +/- 0.34 nmol/mg) levels, but increased glutathione peroxidase (37.2 +/- 3.19 U/mg), superoxide dismutase (201 +/- 19.2 U/mg), and glutathione levels (3.32 +/- 0.25 mg/g) (P < 0.05) in rats treated by CCl4. SP suppressed hepatic inflammation and necrosis induced by CCl4. Moreover, SP significantly reduced the expression of a-smooth muscle actin, collagen, TGF-beta 1, TIMP-1, and inflammation-related gene and induced apoptosis of activated hepatic stellate cells (P < 0.05) in rats treated by CCl4. Our results suggest that SP could protect the liver from fibrosis by attenuating hepatic oxidative stress, suppressing hepatic inflammation, and inducing apoptosis of hepatic stellate cells.