{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T03:40:40Z","timestamp":1788234040529,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,20]],"date-time":"2025-06-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750377600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Changing dietary patterns, lifestyle related disorders and associated metabolic syndromes have increased the prevalence of NAFLD over the last few years. It has been observed that there is a direct association between intestinal dysbiosis and NAFLD truly depicted by interconnected complex mechanisms. Besides its antioxidant activity, quercetin serves prebiotic functions as well.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>The objective of the current research was to determine the synbiotic effect of quercetin and <jats:italic>Lactobacillus acidophilus<\/jats:italic> on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) induced rat models.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Quercetin was extracted from red onions via microwave-assisted extraction technique (MAE). Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize MAE parameters. 25 female albino rats were divided into 5 groups of 5 rats each; 2 control (untreated and negative control) and 3 treatment groups (G1, G2, G3). High fat diet (HFD) (40% fat) in combination with 15% sucrose water and 440\u202fmg cholesterol\/100\u202fg feed was given to rats over a period of 6\u202fweeks to induce NAFLD. For the efficacy trial, treatment groups received different doses of quercetin; 50\u202fmg, 80\u202fmg and 100\u202fmg in G1, G2 and G3, respectively, with a dose of 10<jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\u202fCFU of <jats:italic>Lactobacillus acidophilus<\/jats:italic>\/200\u202f\u03bcL of PBS in all three groups.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The results revealed optimal MAE conditions for maximum amount of quercetin as 600\u202fW microwave power, 3\u202fmin irradiation time and distilled water as a solvent. Resultantly, 86.10\u202fmg quercetin\/gram of red onion extract (32.7mgQ\/g onion powder) was obtained. There was no significant difference in HDL, VLDL, triglycerides, serum AST and serum ALP levels (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>-value &amp;gt; 0.05) between all groups. However, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and serum ALT significantly improved in G3 (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>-value &amp;lt; 0.05).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The synbiotic combination is effective at lowering total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol as well as serum ALT levels at a dose of 100\u202fmg of quercetin\/kg body weight for rats.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2025.1596758","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,20]],"date-time":"2025-06-20T04:10:33Z","timestamp":1750392633000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Optimization of microwave-assisted extraction for quercetin (prebiotic) and the effect of its symbiotic combination with Lactobacillus acidophilus (probiotic) in NAFLD induced rat model"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Mehwish","family":"Majeed","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Waqas","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sumera","family":"Javad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"family":"Iahtisham-Ul-Haq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Summer","family":"Rashid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rashida","family":"Perveen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Umar","family":"Farooq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Juweria","family":"Abid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdul Momin Rizwan","family":"Ahmad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"851","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-1253(22)00165-0","article-title":"The prevalence and incidence of NAFLD worldwide: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"7","author":"Riazi","year":"2022","journal-title":"Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"531","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhep.2018.10.033","article-title":"Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease\u2014a global public health perspective","volume":"70","author":"Younossi","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Hepatol"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"389","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-1253(19)30039-1","article-title":"Prevalence, incidence, and outcome of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Asia, 1999\u20132019: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"4","author":"Li","year":"2019","journal-title":"The lancet Gastroenterology & hepatology"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2437","DOI":"10.5455\/JPMA.95891","article-title":"Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a real threat in Pakistan","volume":"70","author":"Abbas","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Pak Med Assoc"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"824","DOI":"10.3390\/biom12060824","article-title":"NAFLD: mechanisms, treatments, and biomarkers","volume":"12","author":"Nassir","year":"2022","journal-title":"Biomol Ther"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18105227","article-title":"Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: metabolic, genetic, epigenetic and environmental risk factors","volume":"18","author":"Juanola","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.3390\/nu13010016","article-title":"Aging, gut microbiota and metabolic diseases: management through physical exercise and nutritional interventions","volume":"13","author":"Ju\u00e1rez-Fern\u00e1ndez","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2021-0032","DOI":"10.53044\/jinr.2021-0032","article-title":"Factors interfering with behavioral change in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: An ethnographic study","volume":"2","author":"Kawabata","year":"2023","journal-title":"Int. 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