Gabriela Kehayova1, Marieta Georgieva1, Kaloyan Georgiev2, G. Aleksandrov3, M. Peneva4

1 Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacotherapy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Varna

2 Department of Pharmaceutical Technologies, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Varna

3 Department of Abdominal Surgery, Military Medical Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria

4 MC Evrozdrave, Sofia, Bulgaria

Probiotics are live microorganisms, which have a beneficial effect on human health and contribute to the intestinal balance. In 1905 the Bulgarian Dr. Stamen Grigorov discovered the microorganism Lactobacillus bulgaricus in yogurt. Later Russian physiologist Ilya Mechnikov concluded that the secret of longevity of Bulgarians lies in eating yogurt. Lactobacillus bulgaricus is the only microorganism, named after a particular geographic territory. It reproduces only in the territory of Bulgaria. Nowadays probiotics are subject of increasing interest because of their proven hepatoprotective, immunostimulating, antioxidant and anti-tumor effect. For the first time in the world, Professor Nikola Aleksandrov managed to isolate natural probiotic bacteria from water source in Stara Planina. The probiotic association contains wild strains of lactic bacteria.

In the present experiment, we first investigated a hepatoprotective effect of a new strain of Lactobacillus bulgaricus DWT1. We used 30 male Wistar albino rats. The rats were treated within 14 days with Laktera Nature probiotic, and on the 12th day an acute liver damage was induced with a high dose of ethanol. After laboratory and histological analysis of rat blood and liver, we found that animals receiving only ethanol had extensive necrosis zones and elevated liver enzymes. In the Laktera Nature pretreated and then subjected to ethanol groups, ALT and alkaline phosphatase levels were significantly lower than those in the ethanol group. Histologically, a preserved liver structure was established. The present experiment demonstrates the hepatoprotective effect of Laktera Nature. It can improve significantly the treatment of the patients suffering from liver disease.

Keywords: probiotics, ethanol, liver damage, hepatoprotective effect

Medical University Prof. Dr. Paraskev Stoyanov, Varna, Bulgaria, Scripta Scientifica Pharmaceutica, ISSN 2367-6000, volume 4, 2017, supplement 2, page 51