Characterization of Gut Microbiome in Korean Patients with Metabolic Associated Fatty Liver Disease.

Joo Hyun Oh,Yeup Yoon,Je Hee Lee,Wonseok Kang,Joon Hyeok Lee,Jongsik Chun,Min Seok Cho,Hyeree Kim

doi:10.3390/nu13031013

Abstract

Metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a new concept where the presence of both fatty liver and metabolic abnormality are necessary for diagnosis. Several studies have reported that altered gut microbiome is closely associated with metabolic diseases and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, the studies on MAFLD population are scarce. This prospective study aimed to identify differences in gut microbiome between patients with MAFLD and healthy controls in Korean population. In this study, patients with MAFLD and age, sex-matched healthy controls were included, and their stool samples were collected. Taxonomic composition of gut microbiota was analyzed using 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid pyrosequencing. Twenty-two MAFLD patients and 44 healthy controls were included. Taxonomic diversity was lower in patients with MAFLD in the aspect of alpha and beta diversity. The differences were also found at phylum, class, family, and genus levels between the two groups. Phylum Proteobacteria, family Enterobactereriaceae, genus Citrobacter abundance was significantly increased and genus Faecalibacterium was significantly decreased in patients with MAFLD. In addition, butyrate-producing bacteria were decreased and ethanol-producing bacteria were increased in patients with MAFLD. The composition of gut microbiome was different between MAFLD and healthy controls in Korean population. This could offer potential targets for therapeutic intervention in MAFLD.

Highlights

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is estimated to affect a quarter of the population and poses major health and economic problems globally [1]
NAFLD is closely linked to metabolic abnormalities involving obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (T2DM)
Unlike NAFLD, the diagnosis of metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) requires the presence of steatosis more than 5% in hepatocytes in addition to the presence of any of the following three metabolic risks, including overweight/obesity, presence of T2DM, and evidence of metabolic dysregulation

Summary

Introduction

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is estimated to affect a quarter of the population and poses major health and economic problems globally [1]. NAFLD is closely linked to metabolic abnormalities involving obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Unlike NAFLD, the diagnosis of MAFLD requires the presence of steatosis more than 5% in hepatocytes in addition to the presence of any of the following three metabolic risks, including overweight/obesity, presence of T2DM, and evidence of metabolic dysregulation. The latter is defined by the presence of at least two metabolic risk abnormalities: waist circumference ≥102 cm in 4.0/). A variant of Patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 (PNPLA3) has been involved in pathogenesis of NAFLD since PNPLA3 protein has lipase activity towards triglycerides hepatocytes [5]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion