Excessive consumption of the sugar rich longan fruit promoted the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease via mediating gut dysbiosis

Abstract Controversy exists as toward the association of excessive fruits intake and certain disease risks. Longan is an edible fruit rich in high levels of fructose, glucose and sucrose. Herein, the effect of longan fruit on the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was investigated. Longan extracts at the doses of 4.0 g/kg, 8.0, and 16.0 g/kg were orally administered for 4 weeks to healthy C57BL/6J mice or to C57BL/6J mice fed with a HFD diet. In mice fed with a normal diet, repeated longan intake for 4 weeks at excess doses (8 or 16 g/kg), but not the normal dose (4 g/kg), promoted inflammation and gut dysbiosis‐like status and reduced short‐chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production. In high‐fat diet (HFD)‐fed mice, longan intake at 4 g/kg hardly influenced the NAFLD development. In contrast, excess longan intake (8 or 16 g/kg) promoted NAFLD pathogenesis, including increased abnormality in hepatic indices, elevated inflammation, and gut permeability associated with more severe liver steatosis and fibrosis. Moreover, the exacerbated pathogenic markers were positively correlated with increased blood sugar, aggravated HFD‐associated microbial dysbiosis. Effects mediated by excess longan intake resembled that of equivalent free sugars supplementation, suggesting that high level of free sugars in fruits contributed to the promotion of NAFLD development as demonstrated in case of excessive longan intake.