Recently, a new mechanism has revealed that gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in metabolizing
fructose to
acetate that facilitates hepatic lipogenesis. Therefore, our study investigated the role of microbiome on abnormal
lipid synthesis in the presence of
fructose and identified attenuating effects of Ishige okamurae Celluclast extract (IOCE) against
fructose-induced
fatty liver. The results indicated that
oral administration of IOCE (150 and 300 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks) significantly reduced both gut microbiota-mediated and -non-mediated hepatic lipogenesis simultaneously triggered by
fructose metabolism. IOCE reduced hepatic
triglyceride accumulation and expression levels of key
enzymes for glucolipid metabolism. In addition, IOCE regulated
fatty acid synthesis, β-oxidation, and improved hepatic
inflammation. Furthermore, IOCE inhibited direct
fructose-to-
acetate conversion and altered the compositions of gut microbiota. These findings suggest that IOCE might serve as a potential
prebiotic dietary supplement by ameliorating
fatty liver through dual regulation of classical lipogenic pathway and gut microbiota.