Role of gut microbiota in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

• Main Authors: Xuemei Wang, Jialin Xia, Changtao Jiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2019-03-01
• Series: Liver Research
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542568418300187

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disease characterized by hepatic steatosis in the absence of other causes, such as chronic alcohol consumption, that cause secondary hepatic fat accumulation. NAFLD has become the most common liver disease worldwide over the past two decades, and the prevalence of NAFLD is 20–30% in Western countries. However, the mechanism of NAFLD remains unclear. The gut microbiota plays an important role in the metabolism of the host; in fact, it has been implicated in inflammatory diseases, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Accumulating evidence has indicated that gut microbiota component changes are linked to human obesity, insulin resistance (IR), type 2 diabetes and NAFLD. Here, we provide insight into the role of gut microbiota, especially bile salt hydrolase (BSH) in modulating the bile acid pool and farnesoid X receptor (FXR), which promotes the synthesis of ceramide and contributes to the development of NAFLD. Keywords: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), Gut microbiota, Bile acid, Farnesoid X receptor (FXR), Ceramide, Bile salt hydrolase (BSH)