Bionoia Where life meets thought ⌕
Back to Journal
Journal › Mucosa
Discovery

Multi-omics Analysis Reveals the Protection of a Quadruple Probiotic Mixture in Experimental Autoimmune Hepatitis

Read original paper
Editor's note
Restoring gut barrier function through targeted probiotics may blunt the autoimmune attack on liver tissue—a mechanism that could expand treatment options for autoimmune hepatitis beyond current immunosuppressants. This work advances the mechanistic case for microbiota-directed therapy in autoimmune disease, though human efficacy and the optimal bacterial consortium remain unsettled questions. Hepatologists and immunologists studying barrier-mediated autoimmunity should engage closely with these findings.

Source: europepmc · Origin: CN · Chen Y, Wang S, Chen A, Lin Z, Wang H, Li W, Liu J, Yao J, Tian D, Lei Y, Liu M. · Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026-05-23

URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42176246/

AI rationale (4/5, tier: unclassified): Gut microbiota-mediated hepatic immunity via barrier function; mechanistic microbiome-host signaling relevant to mucosa.

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic progressive inflammatory liver disease with a rising global incidence. The treatment of AIH remains challenging because first-line drugs show limited efficacy and systemic side effects. Gut microbiota plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of AIH, leading to growing interest in developing probiotic-based therapies. In this study, we used multi-omics analysis to investigate the therapeutic effects of a quadruple probiotic mixture (Probiotic-quad) consisting of Bifidobacterium infantis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Bacillus cereus in a well-established chronic AIH murine model. Our results showed that Probiotic-quad treatment significantly alleviated AIH progression, as evidenced by lower serum liver enzyme levels, ameliorated hepatic inflammatory infiltration and histopathological damage. Metagenomic sequencing results showed that gut dysbiosis in AIH mice was partially reversed after Probiotic-quad administration. Additionally, the integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier was restored, accompanied by a reduction in serum lipopolysaccharide levels. Untargeted metabolomic and transcriptomic analysis revealed that Probiotic-quad treatment was linked to alterations in hepatic metabolism, including the citrate cycle and tryptophan metabolism, and was associated with reduced activation of the NF-κB and NOD-like receptor signaling pathways. These findings suggest that Probiotic-quad treatment ameliorates AIH severity and is potentially associated with changes in hepatic immune responses, metabolism, gut microbiota, and intestinal barrier function, highlighting its potential as an adjuvant therapy for AIH.

Related articles in this corpus

Parallel
FMT — fecal microbiota transplantation
Both articles address microbiota-based interventions (FMT vs probiotics) for different immune-mediated conditions, sharing the mechanistic premise that gut microbiota modification can treat inflammatory diseases, but pursuing distinct therapeutic approaches.
Parallel
Effects of processed low-protein brown rice on patients with chronic kidney disease
Both articles investigate how modifying gut microbiota through dietary/probiotic interventions improves outcomes in chronic disease (CKD and autoimmune hepatitis), sharing a common mechanistic hypothesis but applied to different disease contexts.
Parallel
Eubacterium rectale Mitigates Inflammatory Bowel Disease via Modulation of Glutamine Metabolism Through the GLS2 and NF-κB Pathway
Both articles investigate how specific bacterial/probiotic interventions modulate gut microbiota to alleviate chronic inflammatory diseases through immune pathway regulation, but target different organs (intestine vs. liver) and employ different mechanistic approaches.
Parallel
Paeoniflorin Ameliorates Alcohol-Induced Depression via Modulating the Gut-Brain Axis and Inhibiting the NF-κB/NLRP3 Inflammasome Pathway in Mice
Both studies investigate gut microbiota-mediated therapeutic interventions for chronic inflammatory conditions through the gut-brain/gut-liver axis, but target different disease models (alcohol-induced depression vs. autoimmune hepatitis) with different treatment modalities (single compound vs. probiotic mixture).
Parallel
Yajieshaba extract improves alcohol‑induced liver injury by regulating hepatic lipid metabolism and gut microbiota
Both studies investigate gut microbiota-based interventions for liver disease through similar mechanistic pathways (gut-liver axis), but target different disease etiologies (alcoholic versus autoimmune hepatitis).
Published 2026-05-28 · Last kit-update 2026-05-28