NAFLD stand for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Not only in US, it is the most common cause for chronic liver disease, given the increasing concerns of obesity, unhealthy eating, and sedentary lifestyle. NAFLD also includes a gamut of liver diseases that are characteristic of fat deposition in liver, such as hepatic steatosis, steatohepatitis, and cirrhosis. It had been reported that small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) was linked to NAFLD. It can involve in insulin resistance development, hepatic steatosis, and fibrosis. On the other hand, probiotics can fortify intestinal wall, reduce its permeability, and endotoxemia.
Therefore, given the importance of probiotics and its influence on the gut-liver, axis, it can be further developed into a newly effective treatment to NAFLD with less side effects. One possible mechanism for this treatment highlights that probiotics can reduce oxidative, inflammatory liver damage, prevent bacterial translocation, epithelial invasion, and inhibit bacterial mucosal adherence; on the other hand, it can improve histological state in certain situations and stimulate host immunity.
How do probiotics reduce inflammation? Researchers explained that they could compete with pathogenic bacteria for limited nutrients, modify inflammatory pathways induced by intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and better intestinal barrier function. So if you or loved ones are concerned with NAFLD, learn more about using probiotics to help, which you can do here.
Sources
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- Angulo P. (2002). https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmra011775
- Brunt EM (1999). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10484010
- Eslamparast (2013). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3990183/#R01