Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Mar;13(3):193-204.
doi: 10.1080/17474124.2019.1569513. Epub 2019 Jan 25.

Gut microbiota: novel therapeutic target for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Ki Tae Suk  1 , Dong Joon Kim  1
Affiliations
Review

Gut microbiota: novel therapeutic target for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Ki Tae Suk et al. Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common and increasing liver diseases worldwide with a prevalence of 20-33%. NAFLD may progress to fibrosis, compensated cirrhosis, advanced cirrhosis, or hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite the increasing prevalence of NAFLD, definitive medical treatment has not been established, with the exception of lifestyle modification with exercise. Because of the direct connection via portal vein between the intestines and the liver (gut-gut microbiota-liver axis), gut microbiota and associated dysbiosis have been known as regulators in the pathophysiology of NAFLD. Area covered: New therapeutic approaches for modulation of gut microbiota have been proposed and the effectiveness of new therapies including probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, bile acid regulation, absorbent, and fecal microbiota transplantation have been demonstrated in recent several studies. This review focuses on the available evidences for new therapies modulating gut microbiota in the management and the prevention of NAFLD. Expert commentary: Gut-gut microbiota-liver axis may play an important role in the etiology of many liver diseases, including NAFLD. It is logical to seek the manipulation of this axis, and further studies are required to understand the underlying precise mechanisms of microbiota-modulation on NAFLD.

Keywords: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; antibiotics; dysbiosis; fecal microbiota transplantation; intestines; microbiota; prebiotics; probiotics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

-