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World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2023; 29(1): 144-156
Published online Jan 7, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i1.144
Role of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis and therapeutics of minimal hepatic encephalopathy via the gut-liver-brain axis
Ming Luo, Rui-Juan Xin, Fang-Rui Hu, Li Yao, Sheng-Juan Hu, Fei-Hu Bai
Ming Luo, Rui-Juan Xin, Fang-Rui Hu, Li Yao, Sheng-Juan Hu, Fei-Hu Bai, Department of Gastroenterology, People’s Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China
Author contributions: Luo M and Xin RJ designed the outline, prepared the tables, and drafted the manuscript; Hu FR and Yao L summarized the data and plotted the figure; Hu SJ and Bai FH revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by Ningxia Natural Science Foundation, No. 2020AAC03329; and the Key Research and Development Projects of Ningxia, No. 2022BEG03128.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the authors who contributed their efforts to this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fei-Hu Bai, MD, Chief Physician, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, People’s Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, No. 301 Zhengyuan North Street, Jinfeng District, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China. baifeihu@hotmail.com
Received: September 26, 2022
Peer-review started: September 26, 2022
First decision: November 5, 2022
Revised: November 23, 2022
Accepted: December 13, 2022
Article in press: December 13, 2022
Published online: January 7, 2023
Processing time: 99 Days and 15.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is a common neuropsychiatric complication of liver cirrhosis. Gut microbiota dysbiosis has an essential role in the pathogenesis of MHE via the gut-liver-brain axis. Current therapeutic strategies for MHE are based on the modulation of gut microbiota dysbiosis. This review presents the recent evidence on the roles of gut microbiota dysbiosis in the pathogenesis and treatment of MHE via the gut-liver-brain axis.