Opinion Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Dec 27, 2021; 13(12): 1816-1827
Published online Dec 27, 2021. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i12.1816
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in irritable bowel syndrome: More than a coincidence?
Huw Purssell, Peter J Whorwell, Varinder S Athwal, Dipesh H Vasant
Huw Purssell, Varinder S Athwal, Hepatology, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester M23 9LT, United Kingdom
Huw Purssell, Peter J Whorwell, Varinder S Athwal, Dipesh H Vasant, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology, University of Manchester, Manchester M23 9LT, United Kingdom
Peter J Whorwell, Neurogastroenterology Unit, Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester M23 9LT, United Kingdom
Dipesh H Vasant, Neurogastroenterology Unit, Department of Gastroenterology, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester M23 9LT, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Purssell H and Vasant DH did the main literature review and drafted the manuscript; Whorwell PJ and Athwal VS critically reviewed the manuscript; and all authors approved the final version of the manuscript for publication.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to disclose.
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: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Dipesh H Vasant, MBChB, MRCP, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Neurogastroenterology Unit, Department of Gastroenterology, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Wythenshawe Hospital, Southmoor Road, Manchester M23 9LT, United Kingdom. dipesh.vasant@manchester.ac.uk
Received: April 17, 2021
Peer-review started: April 17, 2021
First decision: July 27, 2021
Revised: August 1, 2021
Accepted: October 27, 2021
Article in press: October 27, 2021
Published online: December 27, 2021
Processing time: 253 Days and 17.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are amongst the most common gastrointestinal and liver conditions encountered in primary and secondary care. There has been interest in the apparent co-incidence of NAFLD in patients with IBS mainly driven by improved understanding of their shared risk factors and pathophysiology. In this paper we summarize the shared risk factors which include; overlapping nutritional and dietary factors as well as shared putative mechanisms of pathophysiology. Physicians should be aware of the possibility of co-existence of IBS and NAFLD and consider investigating patients with IBS or NAFLD with clinical features of the other condition.