Effect of probiotic Lactobacillus casei Zhang on liver gene expression of hypercholesterolemic rats

The hypocholesterolemic effect of probiotics has been observed, but the molecular mechanism of probiotic-host interaction is still obscure. In this study, DNA microarray technology was used to explore the gene expression profile of liver of hypercholesterolemic rats caused by administration of probiotic Lactobacillus casei Zhang, which can decrease the serum triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride of hypercholesterolemic rats. Six liver samples in high fat and probiotic treated group (3 samples in each group) were randomly selected for RNA isolation and microarray hybridization，the 3 samples in high fat group were used as control.