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Fighting Fatty Liver Diseases with Nutritional Interventions, Probiotics, Symbiotics, and Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT)

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Probiotics and Child Gastrointestinal Health

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AMIDPH,volume 1125))

Abstract

Pediatric obesity is rising worldwide leading the worrying phenomenon of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to shift into one of the most frequent causes of chronic liver illness in childhood. Occurrence of NAFLD depends on several factors such as the geographical area and the diagnostic modalities used; overall it ranges between 3% and 10% of pediatric population, increasing up to 70% in patients with metabolic comorbidities (Manco M, Bottazzo G, DeVito R et al, J Am Coll Nutr 27:667–676, 2008).

Recent findings have related the intestinal microbiota to a plethora of pathological conditions, including type 2 diabetes (T2D), obesity, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). One of the emerging areas of the study is the link between liver diseases and gut microbiome, which has added new information to the understanding of the so-called gut-liver axis.

In order to address the role of gut microbiome in NAFLD onset and progression, it is necessary to “decipher” operational codes for microbiome investigation within the context of advanced laboratory medicine to capture microbiome features and, hence, to address the function of the intestinal microbiome within the gut microbiota-liver axis.

Results of these investigations have allowed the beginning of implementing the usage of probiotics and symbiotics in the medical approach of obesity and NAFLD in adults and children. Several randomized clinical trials (RCTs) have been already published on fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), T2D, NASH, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

This review proposes to describe the current state of knowledge on the ways fatty liver diseases can be addressed with nutritional interventions, probiotics, symbiotics, and FMT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hepatology, Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit, IRCCS “Bambino Gesù” Children’s Hospital, Rome, Italy

    Valerio Nobili, Antonella Mosca, Tommaso Alterio & Sabrina Cardile

  2. Department of Pediatric – University “La Sapienza,” Rome, Rome, Italy

    Valerio Nobili

  3. Unit of Parasitology, Children’s Hospital and Research Institute Bambino Gesú, Rome, Italy

    Lorenza Putignani

  4. Unit of Human Microbiome, Children’s Hospital and Research Institute Bambino Gesú, Rome, Italy

    Lorenza Putignani

Authors
  1. Valerio Nobili
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  2. Antonella Mosca
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  3. Tommaso Alterio
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  4. Sabrina Cardile
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  5. Lorenza Putignani
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Correspondence to Valerio Nobili .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Stefano Guandalini

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Ospedale Giovanni XXI, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Amendola, Bari, Italy

    Flavia Indrio

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Nobili, V., Mosca, A., Alterio, T., Cardile, S., Putignani, L. (2018). Fighting Fatty Liver Diseases with Nutritional Interventions, Probiotics, Symbiotics, and Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT). In: Guandalini, S., Indrio, F. (eds) Probiotics and Child Gastrointestinal Health. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology(), vol 1125. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/5584_2018_318

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