Background: Ganoderma lucidum spore powder (GLSP) has abundant
pharmacological activities. However, the difference in the hepatoprotective
function of sporoderm-broken and sporoderm-unbroken Ganoderma spore powder has
not been studied. This study is the first to investigate the effects of both
sporoderm-damaged and sporoderm-intact GLSP on the improvement of acute alcoholic
liver injury in mice and gut microbiota of mice. Methods: Serum
aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and
interleukin 1 (IL-1), interleukin 18 (IL-18), and tumor
necrosis factor- (TNF-) levels in liver tissues from mice in
each group were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits, and
histological analysis of liver tissue sections was performed to evaluate the
liver-protecting effects of both sporoderm-broken and sporoderm-unbroken GLSP.
Additionally, 16S rDNA sequencing of feces from the bowels of mice was performed
to compare the regulatory effects of both sporoderm-broken and sporoderm-unbroken
GLSP on the gut microbiota of mice. Results: Compared with those in the
50% ethanol model group (MG), sporoderm-broken GLSP significantly reduced serum
AST and ALT levels (p 0.0001) and the release of the inflammatory
factors, including IL-1, IL-18, and TNF- (p
0.0001), and effectively improved the pathological state of liver cells;
sporoderm-unbroken GLSP significantly reduced the ALT content (p =
0.0002) and the release of the inflammatory factors, including IL-1
(p 0.0001), IL-18 (p = 0.0018), and TNF-
(p = 0.0005), and reduced the serum AST content, but the reduction was
not significant; compared with the gut microbiota of the MG, sporoderm-broken
GLSP reduced the levels of Verrucomicrobia and
Escherichia_Shigella, increased the relative abundance of beneficial
bacteria such as Bacteroidetes, and decreased the abundance levels of
harmful bacteria, such as Proteobacteria and
Candidatus_Saccharibacteria; sporoderm-unbroken GLSP could
reduce the abundance levels of harmful bacteria, such as Verrucomicrobia
and Candidatus_Saccharibacteria; and GLSP treatment alleviates the
downregulation of the levels of translation, ribosome structure and biogenesis,
and lipid transport and metabolism in liver-injured mice; Conclusions:
GLSP can alleviate the imbalance of gut microbiota and improve liver injury, and
the effect of sporoderm-broken GLSP is better.