Role of Probiotics in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Does Gut Microbiota Matter?

Authors

Chencheng Xie, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Dina Halegoua-De Marzio, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-19-2019

Comments

This article is the author’s final published version in Nutrients, Volume 11, Issue 11, November 2019, Article number 2837.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11112837. Copyright © Xie & Halegoua-Demarzio

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic consequence of metabolic syndrome, which often also includes obesity, diabetes, and dyslipidemia. The connection between gut microbiota (GM) and NAFLD has attracted significant attention in recent years. Data has shown that GM affects hepatic lipid metabolism and influences the balance between pro/anti-inflammatory effectors in the liver. Although studies reveal the association between GM dysbiosis and NAFLD, decoding the mechanisms of gut dysbiosis resulting in NAFLD remains challenging. The potential pathophysiology that links GM dysbiosis to NAFLD can be summarized as: (1) disrupting the balance between energy harvest and expenditure, (2) promoting hepatic inflammation (impairing intestinal integrity, facilitating endotoxemia, and initiating inflammatory cascades with cytokines releasing), and (3) altered biochemistry metabolism and GM-related metabolites (i.e., bile acid, short-chain fatty acids, aromatic amino acid derivatives, branched-chain amino acids, choline, ethanol). Due to the hypothesis that probiotics/synbiotics could normalize GM and reverse dysbiosis, there have been efforts to investigate the therapeutic effect of probiotics/synbiotics in patients with NAFLD. Recent randomized clinical trials suggest that probiotics/synbiotics could improve transaminases, hepatic steatosis, and reduce hepatic inflammation. Despite these promising results, future studies are necessary to understand the full role GM plays in NAFLD development and progression. Additionally, further data is needed to unravel probiotics/synbiotics efficacy, safety, and sustainability as a novel pharmacologic approaches to NAFLD.

Recommended Citation

Xie, Chencheng and Halegoua-De Marzio, Dina, "Role of Probiotics in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Does Gut Microbiota Matter?" (2019). Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Faculty Papers. Paper 64.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/gastro_hepfp/64

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

31752378

Language

English