The University of Missouri School of Medicine has discovered a link between a high-fat, high-sugar Western diet and the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the leading cause of chronic liver disease. Study conducted at MU’s Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building identifies Western diet-induced microbial and metabolic contributions to liver disease, increasing our understanding of the gut-liver axis and, consequently, dietary and microbial Intervention has evolved. This global health threat.
Co-principal investigator, Guangfu Li, PhD, DVM, associate professor in the Department of Surgery, said, “We are just beginning to understand how food and the gut microbiota interact to produce metabolites that contribute to the development of liver disease.” Are.” and the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. “However, the specific bacteria and metabolites, as well as the underlying mechanisms, were not well understood until now. This research is unlocking the how and why.”
The intestine and the liver have a close anatomical and functional connection through the portal vein. Unhealthy diets alter the gut microbiota, resulting in the production of pathogenic factors that affect the liver. By feeding mice foods high in fat and sugar, the research team found that the mice developed gut bacteria called Blautia producta and a lipid that causes liver inflammation and fibrosis. In turn, the mice developed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or fatty liver disease, which had features similar to the human disease.
“Fatty liver disease is a global health epidemic,” said one of the lead researchers, Kevin Staveley-O’Carroll, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Surgery. “Not only is it becoming the leading cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis, but I see many patients with other cancers have fatty liver disease and don’t even know it. Often, this leaves them with potentially curative surgery. Makes it impossible. Other cancers.”
As part of this study, the researchers tested treating mice with an antibiotic cocktail administered through the drinking water. They found that antibiotic treatment reduced liver inflammation and lipid accumulation, resulting in a reduction in fatty liver disease. These results suggest that antibiotic-induced changes in the gut microbiota may suppress inflammatory responses and liver fibrosis.