Selenomethionine Attenuates Aflatoxin B<sub>1</sub>-induced Liver Injury by Modulating the Gut Microbiota and Metabolites in Rabbits
Dejing Kong, Jingyi Xu, Qianwen Zhang, Dongliu Luo, Qiongxia Lv, Shuangjun Li, Xiaoguang Chen, Lan Wei, Xuemin Zhu, Yumei Liu, Ziqiang Zhang
Abstract
Dietary contamination with aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ), which can lead to severe liver damage, poses a great threat to livestock and poultry breeding and has detrimental impacts on food safety. Selenomethionine (SeMet), with anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and detoxifying effects, is regarded as a beneficial food additive. However, whether SeMet can reduce AFB 1 -induced liver injury and intestinal microbial disorders in rabbits remains to be revealed. Forty 35-day-old rabbits were randomly divided into a control group, an AFB 1 group, and 0.2 mg/kg Se and 0.4 mg/kg Se groups. The SeMet treatment group was fed different doses of the SeMet diet every day for 21 days. On Days 17–21, the AFB 1 group, 0.2 mg/kg Se, and 0.4 mg/kg Se groups were intragastrically administered 0.3 mg AFB 1 /kg b.w. Results showed that SeMet restored alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, alleviating AFB 1 -induced liver function damage. This was linked to changes in intestinal metabolites and activation of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase-1 (Nrf2/HO-1) pathway. In this study, the relationships between intestinal microorganisms and their metabolites and AFB 1 -induced liver injury are investigated, and the potential protective role of SeMet against liver damage induced by AFB 1 offers novel insights into strategies for the prevention and treatment of AFB 1 -related toxicity.