From gut to liver: unveiling the differences of intestinal microbiota in NAFL and NASH patients

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasingly recognized for its global prevalence and potential progression to more severe liver diseases such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD, yet the detailed characteristics...

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Published in:	Frontiers in microbiology Vol. 15; p. 1366744
Main Authors:	Huang, Furong, Lyu, Bo, Xie, Fanci, Li, Fang, Xing, Yufeng, Han, Zhiyi, Lai, Jianping, Ma, Jinmin, Zou, Yuanqiang, Zeng, Hua, Xu, Zhe, Gao, Pan, Luo, Yonglun, Bolund, Lars, Tong, Guangdong, Fengping, Xu
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 04-04-2024
Subjects:	16S rRNA sequencing gut microbiome Microbiology NAFL NAFLD NASH NAFLD gut microbiome NASH NAFL 16S rRNA sequencing
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Summary:	Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasingly recognized for its global prevalence and potential progression to more severe liver diseases such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of NAFLD, yet the detailed characteristics and ecological alterations of gut microbial communities during the progression from non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) to NASH remain poorly understood. Methods: In this study, we conducted a comparative analysis of gut microbiota composition in individuals with NAFL and NASH to elucidate differences and characteristics. We utilized 16S rRNA sequencing to compare the intestinal gut microbiota among a healthy control group (65 cases), NAFL group (64 cases), and NASH group (53 cases). Random forest machine learning and database validation methods were employed to analyze the data. Results: Our findings indicate a significant decrease in the diversity of intestinal flora during the progression of NAFLD ( < 0.05). At the phylum level, high abundances of Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria were observed in both NAFL and NASH patients, whereas Firmicutes were less abundant. At the genus level, a significant decrease in Prevotella expression was seen in the NAFL group (AUC 0.738), whereas an increase in the combination of Megamonas and Fusobacterium was noted in the NASH group (AUC 0.769). Furthermore, KEGG pathway analysis highlighted significant disturbances in various types of glucose metabolism pathways in the NASH group compared to the NAFL group, as well as notably compromised flavonoid and flavonol biosynthesis functions. The study uncovers distinct microbiota characteristics and microecological changes within the gut during the transition from NAFL to NASH, providing insights that could facilitate the discovery of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for NAFLD.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 These authors have contributed equally to this work Edited by: Mauro Cataldi, University of Naples Federico II, Italy Zhengrui Li, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Reviewed by: Kendall S. Stocke, University of Louisville, United States Giovanni Tarantino, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
ISSN:	1664-302X 1664-302X
DOI:	10.3389/fmicb.2024.1366744