Hepatoprotective Effect of Lactic Acid Bacteria

To evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of lactic acid bacteria, their effects on tert-butylperoxide (t-BHP)-induced hepatotoxicity in mice were measured. When lactic acid bacteria at doses of 0.5 and 2 g (wet weight)/kg were orally administered to mice with t-BHP-induced liver injury, these bacteria significantly inhibited the increase of plasma alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities by 17-57% and 57-66% of the t-BHP control group, respectively. However, these lactic acid bacteria did not protect cytotoxicity induced by t-BHP against HepG2 cells.