Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is recognized one of the leading metabolic diseases globally, and the younger age population with the disease is rapidly growing, especially in developed countries. Since there has been no approved medicine, losing weight is known to be the only best remedy to control or reverse the disease. Recently, the field of microbiome has attracted much attention to offer more practical choices for patients. Here, we provide experimental evidence that Streptococcus thermophilus LM1012 (LM1012), a safe probiotic strain, is effective for improving NAFLD indexes. In the methionine-choline deficient (MCD) diet induced C57BL/6 mouse model, administration of LM1012 promoted marked reductions of aspartate transaminase (23.8%), total bilirubin (27.8%), hydroxycholesterol (64.2%), triglyceride (29.7%) and IL-1β (68.3%) compared to the MCD diet alone group. Also, the histopathological data imply that LM1012 inhibited fat accumulation and inflammation in the liver, which are the key biomarkers for progression of the disease. Together, these findings suggest that human consumption of LM1012 as a healthy nutritional supplement, may be helpful in reducing the risk of liver damages in NAFLD patients.

Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
    1. Animals and diets
    2. Biochemical analyses
    3. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(real-time qPCR) of cytokines
    4. Histopathological examination
    5. Statistical analysis
Results
    1. LM1012 on body and liver weights
    2. Liver protective effects of LM1012 on hepaticenzymes and TBIL
    3. Inhibition of lipid-related biomarkers by LM1012
    4. Inhibition of pro-inflammation cytokines by LM1012
    5. Reduced fat accumulation and inflammation byLM1012
Discussion
Funding Information
References

• Yeji You(Researcher, Microbiome R&D Center, Lactomason Co., Ltd, Jinju 52840, Korea)
• Tae-rahk Kim(Head Director, Microbiome R&D Center, Lactomason Co., Ltd, Jinju 52840, Korea)
• Minn Sohn(President, Lactomason Co., Ltd, Jinju 52840, Korea)
• Jeseong Park(Principal Researcher, Microbiome R&D Center, Lactomason Co., Ltd, Jinju 52840, Korea) Corresponding author