Fecal microbiota transplantation for treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Mechanism, clinical evidence, and prospect

Table 1 Characteristics of included randomized controlled trials

Ref.	Patient population	Diagnosis	Study design	Fecal donor	Intervention	Sample size	Duration in wk	Outcomes
Craven et al[17], 2020	Adults, NAFLD	Biopsy, fibroscan, MRI	Double-blind, parallel, RCT	3 donors, healthy, BMI < 25 kg/m2	Treatment: Allogenic FMT	15	24	HOMA-IR, hepatic PDFF, small intestine permeability, NEFA, cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides, glucose, BMI, weight, waist-to-hip ratio
					Control: Autologous FMT	6
					FMT: Duodenal infusion
Witjes et al[18], 2020	Adults, NAFLD	Ultrasound	Double-blind, parallel, RCT	3 donors, healthy, BMI < 25 kg/m2, 8-weekly vegan	Treatment: Allogenic FMT	10	24	Histological change (NAS score, necro inflammation score, fibrosis score, steatosis score), intestinal microbiota composition, plasma metabolites, cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides, glucose, ALT, AST, monocytes
					Control: Autologous FMT	11
					FMT: Duodenal infusion
Xue et al[19], 2022	Adults, NAFLD	Fibroscan	Open-label, parallel, RCT	Healthy undergraduate donors	Treatment: Allogenic FMT	47	4	ALT, AST, cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides, total bilirubin, Albumin, hepatic fat attenuation, changes in the gut microbiota, HOMA-IR, BMI
					Control: Oral probiotics	28
					FMT: Colonic infusion

ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; BMI: Body mass index; FMT: Fecal microbiota transplantation; HDL-C: High-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HOMA-IR: Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance; MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging; NAFLD: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; NAS score: NAFLD activity score; NEFA: Non-esterified fatty acids; PDFF: Proton density fat fraction; RCT: Randomized controlled trial.