Probiotics and antibodies to TNF inhibit inflammatory activity and improve nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Ob/ob mice, a model for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), develop intestinal bacterial overgrowth and overexpress tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha). In animal models for alcoholic fatty liver disease (AFLD), decontaminating the intestine or inhibiting TNF-alpha improves AFLD. Because AFLD and NAFLD may have a similar pathogenesis, treatment with a probiotic (to modify the intestinal flora) or anti-TNF antibodies (to inhibit TNF-alpha activity) may improve NAFLD in ob/ob mice. To evaluate this hypothesis, 48 ob/ob mice were given either a high-fat diet alone (ob/ob controls) or the same diet + VSL#3 probiotic or anti-TNF antibodies for 4 weeks. Twelve lean littermates fed a high-fat diet served as…