08 Apr PROBIOTICS AND NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER

PROBIOTICS AND NON-ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER

Recently, many acute and chronic disorders have been shown to be associated with dysregulation of normal gut microorganisms.¹ The most common example is acute gastroenteritis. In these disorders, probiotics have been shown by scientific evidence to be of use. Among the chronic disorders, there is evidence for the utility of probiotics in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Fatty Liver Disease.

In some cases of IBD, the use of particular strains of probiotics have been given a grade A or B recommendation indicating a high level of scientific evidence.² In IBS, a very common disorder, there also seems to be strong evidence for the use of certain probiotics.² Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or simply fatty liver is the most common liver disorder in Western industrialized countries and is rapidly increasing in this part of the world especially in association with diabetes and obesity. Probiotics have been shown not only to improve indices of liver inflammation in fatty liver³ but have also been shown to improve liver histology (biopsy) and radiologic (ultrasound) findings.⁴

References:

1. Brandt LJ & Aroniadis OC, Gastrointest Endos, 2013; 78(2): 240-249.
2. Floch MH, et al, J Clin Gastroenterol, 2011; 45: S168-S171.
3. Adams LA & Angulo P, Postgrad Med J, 2006; 82: 315-322.
4. Yan-yan Ma, et al, World J Gastroenterol, 2013; 78(2): 240-249