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Microbiome

Microbiome metabolomics reveals new drivers of human liver steatosis

Nature Medicine volume 24, pages 906–907 (2018)Cite this article

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An integrative multiomics approach in nondiabetic obese women identifies phenylacetate as a microbial metabolite contributing to the accumulation of lipids in the liver and hence to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Up to a quarter of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) develop a progressive inflammatory liver disease termed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) that may progress toward cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the biological events driving the progression of NAFLD are not clearly elucidated. The gut microbiota—that is, the microorganisms living in the intestine—is able to modulate host metabolism and immunity, mainly through the release of metabolites and bioactive components1, and clearly contributes to the metabolic products in blood plasma—the plasma metabolome. Although tremendous efforts have recently been dedicated to the identification of bacterial by-products2, the mechanism behind the beneficial or detrimental effects of key microbial metabolites on host health in the field of NAFLD remains to be studied3. In this issue, Hoyles et al.4 explored the plasma and urinary metabolome of nondiabetic obese women and integrated these data with fecal metagenomics and hepatic transcriptome data to unravel the molecular pathways linking the gut microbiota to hepatic steatosis.

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Fig. 1: The gut microbiota contributes to hepatic steatosis.

Marina Spence/Springer Nature

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Metabolism and Nutrition Research Group, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium

    Nathalie M. Delzenne & Laure B. Bindels

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  1. Nathalie M. Delzenne
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  2. Laure B. Bindels
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Correspondence to Nathalie M. Delzenne.

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Delzenne, N.M., Bindels, L.B. Microbiome metabolomics reveals new drivers of human liver steatosis. Nat Med 24, 906–907 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-018-0126-3

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