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World J Clin Cases. Aug 16, 2021; 9(23): 6654-6662
Published online Aug 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i23.6654
Intestinal microbiota participates in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease progression by affecting intestinal homeostasis
Yang Zhang, Jun-Xiang Li, Yan Zhang, Yun-Liang Wang
Yang Zhang, Jun-Xiang Li, Yan Zhang, Yun-Liang Wang, Department of Gastroenterology, Dong Fang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100078, China
Author contributions: Zhang Y and Zhang Y drafted the manuscript; Li JX and Wang YL revised the manuscript for important intellectual content.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81503407; and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Scientific Research Innovation Team), No. 2019-JYB-TD004.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest for 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: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yun-Liang Wang, MD, PhD, Associate Chief Physician, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, Dong Fang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, No. 6 District 1 Fangxingyuan, Beijing 100078, China. yunliang_wang@sina.com
Received: March 12, 2021
Peer-review started: March 12, 2021
First decision: April 17, 2021
Revised: April 25, 2021
Accepted: June 22, 2021
Article in press: June 22, 2021
Published online: August 16, 2021
Processing time: 146 Days and 1.5 Hours
Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disease with a pathogenesis that has not been fully elucidated. With the development of the theory of the gut-liver axis and the deepening of related research, the role of the intestinal tract in the pathogenesis of NAFLD has been investigated more. Intestinal microbiota, intestinal metabolites, and intestinal epithelial and immune-based barriers constitute the intestinal environment, which uses crosstalk to maintain the homeostasis of the intestinal environment. This paper reviews the progress in the study of intestinal microbiota, intestinal environment, and NAFLD and suggests that repair of intestinal functional balance may be a new idea for early prevention and intervention of NAFLD.

Keywords: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Gut-liver axis; Intestinal microbiota; Metabolites; Intestinal homeostasis

Core Tip: Intestinal microbiota, intestinal metabolites, the intestinal epithelial barrier, and the immune barrier constitute the intestinal environment. The importance of intestinal homeostasis in the occurrence and development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been shown. Intestinal microbiota plays a leading role in maintaining the balance of the intestinal environment, but the complex interaction mechanism has not been elucidated fully. This article reviews the current research from the perspective of intestinal homeostasis and proposes that the repair of intestinal functional balance may be a new idea for early prevention and intervention of NAFLD.