Importance of the gut microbiota in the gut-liver axis in normal and liver disease

Abstract

The gut microbiota is of growing interest to clinicians and researchers. This is because there is a growing understanding that the gut microbiota performs many different functions, including involvement in metabolic and immune processes that are systemic in nature. The liver, with its important role in detoxifying and metabolizing products from the gut, is at the forefront of interactions with the gut microbiota. Many details of these interactions are not yet known to clinicians and researchers, but there is growing evidence that normal gut microbiota function is important for liver health. At the same time, factors affecting the gut microbiota, including nutrition or medications, may also have an effect through the gut-liver axis.

Keywords: Gut microbiota; Liver; Gut-liver axis; Immunity; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Core Tip: The gut microbiota plays an important immune and metabolic role in the body both under physiologic conditions and in the development of various liver diseases. The gut microbiota is involved in the production of various substances such as short-chain fatty acids, which play an important role in linking the gut to other organs. The composition of the gut microbiota may change in various liver diseases, and this relationship is two-way.