Abstract: To investigate the preventive effect of Volvariella volvacea fruit body polypeptides (VVFP) on acute alcoholic liver injury in mice and its influence on the intestinal microbiota, VVFP (1–3 kDa molecular mass) which had been previously obtained by our laboratory was given by gavage to mice. The mice were randomly divided into six groups: blank control, model, positive control, low-dose VVFP, moderate-dose VVFP and high-dose VVFP. Serum indexes, liver indexes and histopathological sections were compared among these groups, and 16S rDNA gene high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the diversity of the intestinal microflora and the relative abundance at the phyla and genus levels in each sample. Results showed that VVFP significantly reduced the levels of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity in the serum and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver, and decreased the levels of the inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), and significantly increased the activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) in the liver. The 16S rRNA sequencing showed that VVFP significantly reduced the α-diversity indices Chao1 and observed species, increased the Shannon index, and regulated the abundance of Bacteroides, Firmicutes, Streptomyces, Lactobacillus and Vibrio, thereby reducing liver damage. In conclusion, VVFP can reduce alcoholic liver injury, which will provide a theoretical basis for the application of VVFP in the field of functional foods.

Key words: Volvariella volvacea fruit body polypeptide; acute alcoholic liver injury; high-throughput sequencing; intestinal microbiota