Abstract

Patulin, a mycotoxin, which is a major contaminant in apple juices, has contributed immensely to the occurrence of liver diseases. Consumption of apple juice could over long period of time become harmful to the health of individuals with pre-existing liver disease. Probiotics are known for their role in patulin removal from aqueous media. In this study, we investigated the effects of a probiotic microorganism on patulin toxicity in hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells and established the protective effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG) as mediated by induction of BH3-interacting domain antagonist (BID) in response to patulin toxicity. After 24 hours of patulin exposure followed by 24 hours of treatment with Lactobacillus rhamnosus, cells proliferation decreased with increasing patulin exposure in samples without LGG pre-treatment, whereas with increasing concentration of patulin, cells were relatively rescued in LGG treated samples. It was further observed that pre-treatment of LGG with polysaccharide gums led to a decline in cell proliferation with increasing patulin exposure. Compare to the control, the expression of p53 upregulated moderator of apoptosis (PUMA) increased slightly by 7 % at 10µM patulin exposure in treatment and decreased by 30% in untreated cell. However, the expression of BID decreased by 26% in treatment compared to the control. We further established that the protective effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus was mediated by the inhibition of BID. Our findings suggest that Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG could potentially function as a therapeutic agent to reverse the damaging effect of patulin on the liver of individuals with pre-existing liver disease.

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