Associated Lipidomics, Metabolomics and Gut Microbiota Changes in CDAA-induced NAFLD Mice After Polyene Phosphatidylcholine Treatment

Abstract Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease in most parts of the world. Currently, there is no drug approved for the treatment of NAFLD, and polyene phosphatidylcholine (PPC) is an important drug for clinical doctors to treat patients with NAFLD. Through the analysis of liver index, histopathological inspection and blood routine, it was obvious that PPC could significantly improve Choline-Deficient L-amino acid-defined (CDAA) diet induced NAFLD mice in the present work. We performed lipidomics and metabolomics analysis of 54 samples using ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to Thermo LTQ Orbitrap mass spectrometer to select differential metabolites associated with CDAA modeling and PPC treatment. A total of 19 differential metabolites including 5 polar metabolites and 14 lipids were obtained. We inferred that the protective therapeutic effect of PPC on liver was related to the supplement of phosphatidylcholine，lysophosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin(PC, LPC, SM) and acylcarnitine metabolism. In addition, we analyzed the gut microbiota of mice before and after modeling and treatment, significant differences in the abundance of lactobacillus associated with NAFLD were found. This study provides more reference and data for exploring the pathogenesis of NAFLD and the therapeutic mechanism of PPC, and a methodological reference for the study of the mechanism.