Gut Microbiota and Alcoholic Liver Disease

Title:Gut Microbiota and Alcoholic Liver Disease

Volume: 11 Issue: 3

Author(s): Emidio Scarpellini, Mariana Forlino, Marinella Lupo, Carlo Rasetti, Giammarco Fava, Ludovico Abenavoli and Adriano De Santis

Affiliation:

Keywords: Gut microbiota, alcohol, intestinal permeability, lipopolysaccharide, antibiotics, probiotics.

Abstract: The gut–liver axis model has often explained liver disease physiopathology. Among the latter we can mention Non-Alcoholic Liver Steatosis (NAFLD), Liver Steatohepatitis (NASH), liver cirrhosis. In this frame an altered Intestinal Permeability (IP) is the gate for antigenic/toxic substances from gut lumen until target organs such as liver in NAFLD. Altered intestinal permeability was discovered almost forty years ago as consequence of acute and chronic alcohol ingestion. Alcohol Liver Disease (ALD) is a systemic pathology whose beginning and end belong to the intestine. Several recent evidences from the literature show how gut microbiota composition can be altered by alcohol, affects IP and can be modulated by several nonpharmacological and pharmacological agents, becoming the target for ALD treatment. In this review we describe the definition of ALD, gut microbiota composition in healthy and ALD, definition and role of IP in ALD physiopathology and emerging evidences on gut microbiota modulation in ALD treatment from preliminary clinical and non-clinical studies.

Cite this article as:

Scarpellini Emidio, Forlino Mariana, Lupo Marinella, Rasetti Carlo, Fava Giammarco, Abenavoli Ludovico and De Santis Adriano, Gut Microbiota and Alcoholic Liver Disease, Reviews on Recent Clinical Trials 2016; 11 (3) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1574887111666160810100538