Inulin given to pregnant mice and liver damage in offspring
What it found
Giving inulin to pregnant mice reduced liver damage in their babies caused by methamphetamine exposure.
It also helped restore gut bacteria in the offspring.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Liver damage from methamphetamine
Baby mice exposed to methamphetamine before birth had smaller livers relative to body size and signs of liver injury. Their livers made less glycogen and showed changes in gene activity.
Oxidative stress in livers
Methamphetamine weakened the antioxidant system in the baby mice. This led to oxidative stress, possibly linked to changes in gut bacteria and bile acids.
Gut bacteria restored by inulin
When mother mice received inulin, the gut bacteria in their babies returned toward normal. The inulin was given to the mothers, not directly to the babies.
Inulin reduced liver damage
Mother mice given inulin had babies with less liver injury from methamphetamine. The authors say this suggests inulin could be a useful preventive approach.
What the authors conclude
- They say their work gives clear proof that methamphetamine harms the liver across generations in mice.
- They suggest that giving inulin to mothers during pregnancy could be an effective way to prevent this liver damage.
How it was done
Methamphetamine use during pregnancy can harm a baby's liver, but scientists do not yet know exactly how. Inulin is a prebiotic that might help protect against these kinds of injuries in offspring.
Researchers used pregnant mice exposed to methamphetamine before birth. Some of the mothers were then given inulin. They examined the livers and gut bacteria of the baby mice afterward.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- These results come from mice, so they cannot show what happens in people.
- The study looked at damage from methamphetamine, not the effects of inulin on its own in normal pregnancies.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
- Authors work at
- Southern Medical University, China; Southern Medical University (Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Research), China; Hebei Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, China
The paper
- Title
- Maternal inulin supplementation ameliorates prenatal methamphetamine exposure-induced hepatotoxicity and restores gut microbiota in mouse offspring
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Li JH, Liu JL, Li XW, et al (2024). Maternal inulin supplementation ameliorates prenatal methamphetamine exposure-induced hepatotoxicity and restores gut microbiota in mouse offspring. Ecotoxicology and environmental safety. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115769PubMed 38039856DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error