Exacerbation of alcoholic hepatitis (AH) with comorbid metabolic syndrome is an emerging clinical problem, where microbiota plays a profound role in the pathogenesis. Here, we investigated the effect of rifaximin (RFX) on liver injury following chronic-binge ethanol (EtOH) administration in KK-A^y mice, a rodent model of metabolic syndrome. Female, 8-wk-old KK-A^y mice were fed Lieber–DeCarli diet (5% EtOH) for 10 days, following a single EtOH gavage (4 g/kg body wt). Some mice were given RFX (0.1 g/L, in liquid diet) orally. Small intestinal contents were collected from mice without binge. Intestinal microbiota was quantified using aerobic and anaerobic culturing techniques and further analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing in detail. EtOH feeding/binge caused hepatic steatosis, oxidative stress, and induction of inflammatory cytokines in KK-A^y mice, which were markedly prevented by RFX treatment. Hepatic mRNA levels for cluster of differentiation 14, Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4, TLR2, and NADPH oxidase 2 were increased following EtOH feeding/binge, and administration of RFX completely suppressed their increase. The net amount of small intestinal bacteria was increased over threefold after chronic EtOH feeding as expected; however, RFX did not prevent this net increase. Intriguingly, the profile of small intestinal microbiota was dramatically changed following EtOH feeding in the order level, where the Erysipelotrichales predominated in the relative abundance. In sharp contrast, RFX drastically blunted the EtOH-induced increases in the Erysipelotrichales almost completely, with increased proportion of the Bacteroidales. In conclusion, RFX prevents AH through modulation of small intestinal microbiota/innate immune responses in obese KK-A^y mice. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Here we demonstrated that rifaximin (RFX) prevents chronic-binge ethanol (EtOH)-induced steatohepatitis in KK-A^y mice. Chronic EtOH feeding caused small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, with drastic alteration in the microbiota profile predominating the order Erysipelotrichales. RFX minimized this EtOH induction in Erysipelotrichales with substitutive increases in Bacteroidales. RFX also prevented EtOH-induced increases in portal lipopolysaccharide, and hepatic cluster of differentiation 14, toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, and TLR4 mRNA levels, suggesting the potential involvement of microbiota-related innate immune responses.

A larger charge-to-breakdown value and much less threshold-voltage narrowing in the endurance properties of flash electrically erasable and programmable ROMs were achieved by incorporating a greater amount of nitrogen ( ∼10²¹ atoms/cm³) into the bulk of thin oxide films, as well as near the oxide/Si interface. The charge to breakdown value of thin oxide films formed under an optimized heavy oxynitride condition (dry oxidation at 1100° C; NH₃ annealing at 1000° C for 30 s; N₂O annealing at 1100° C for 30 s) was four times as large as that of a conventional dry oxide film. These results were attributed to the suppression of stress-induced charge traps and the interface state, due to the introduction of nitrogen atoms in the oxide bulk, as well as at the oxide/Si interface.