Significance of LncRNA NEAT1 Alterations During Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and its Association with Gut Microbiota

Weiming Yu, Pengxiang Wang, Qianwen Zhang, Yiyu He and Likun Wang

Background and Objective: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease can directly lead to decompensated cirrhosis and may affect the progression of other chronic liver diseases. To investigate the significance of alterations of LncRNA NEAT1 during treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its relationship with gut microbiota (GMB). Materials and Methods: Sixty-five diabetic patients with NAFLD (observation group, OG) and 51 patients with simple diabetes (control group, CG) admitted to Linyi People’s Hospital between March, 2019 and January, 2020 were selected. The NEAT1 expression in both cohorts was detected. Patients in OG were followed up for 1 year to analyze the connection between NEAT1 and NAFLD recurrence. Additionally, SD rats were purchased for NAFLD modelling and adenovirus with silenced NEAT1 expression was used for intervention to observe the alterations of liver function, inflammatory cytokines (ICs), oxidative stress (OS) and GMB. Results: Serum NEAT1 was higher in OG than in CG and decreased gradually during treatment. The NEAT1 was also higher in relapsed patients compared with those without recurrence. And in in vitro experiments, NEAT1 showed elevated expression in NAFLD rats, while under the intervention of NEAT1-silenced adenovirus, the liver function, inflammatory reaction and OS of NAFLD rats were alleviated, with decreased aerobic bacteria and increased anaerobic bacteria in GMB. Conclusion: The NEAT1 keeps at a high level in NAFLD, with a close connection with the disease progression of NAFLD. Silencing NEAT1 expression can effectively inhibit the inflammatory reaction and OS in NAFLD and regulate the imbalance of GMB.

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