Effect of Camel Milk on Intestinal Flora of Mice with Chronic Alcoholic Liver Injury

Purpose: To explore the effect of camel milk on the diversity and structure of intestinal microflora in mice with chronic alcoholic liver injury. In this experiment, male C57BL/6NCr mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: control group (Con, n=6), model group (Et, n=6), camel milk dose group (EtCM, n=6) and cow milk dose group (EtNM, n=6); the experiment was conducted for 8 weeks, the first 4 weeks were fed with Lieber-DeCarli liquid feed (including control), and the following 4 weeks were fed with corresponding milk or saline on the basis of feeding Lieber-DeCarli liquid feed. After the gavage, the NIAAA model was established by gavage 31.5% alcohol solution at a dose of 5 g/kg. Serum LPS content was detected, and colonic feces of mice were collected under sterile conditions for 16S rRNA sequencing, and intestinal flora alpha diversity, beta diversity, and species structure based on genus and genus levels were analyzed. Serum index results showed that serum LPS of mice in EtCM group and EtNM group was significantly reduced (P < 0.01). 16S rRNA sequencing results showed that camel milk and cow milk significantly increased the abundance and uniformity of the colonic intestinal flora of ALD mice, and better adjusted the structure of intestinal flora; among them, camel milk showed better alpha diversity than cow milk. At the phylum level, camel milk and cow milk significantly increased the abundance of Bacteroides phylum and decreased the abundance of thick-walled phylum. At the genus level, camel milk and cow milk significantly increased the abundance of Bacteroides, Bacteroides, and Ackermania, and reduced the abundance of the unknown genus Ruminococcaceae_UCG-013 under the Rumenaceae family. Among them, the beneficial bacteria abundance of camel milk is 9% higher than that of cow milk. Conclusion: Camel milk can adjust the intestinal flora structure by changing the intestinal flora environment of ALD mice. It shows that camel milk can be used as a functional dairy product to regulate intestinal flora, and can prevent intestinal barrier dysfunction caused by chronic ALD. © 2022, Editorial Office of Journal of CIFST. All right reserved.