Intestinal Microbiota and Liver Diseases: Insights into Therapeutic Use of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Figure 1

The link between gut microbiota and liver disease risk factors.Inflammation, EnEth, lipid metabolism, bile acid metabolism, and endotoxin levels are the common risk factors for liver diseases induced by intestinal microbiotas and their metabolites. (a) Inflammation: it is one of the most typical features of liver disease and occurs at all stages of disease development. (b) Bile acid metabolism: bile acid is an important part of bile, and intestinal floras regulate its metabolism through the FXR/TGR5 pathway. (c) Ethanol: in addition to exogenous alcohol intake, intestinal flora also can produce a large amount of ethanol (EnEth), affecting intestinal barrier and BT. (d) Lipid metabolism: gut microbiota influence on lipid metabolism may be mediated through metabolites and LPS. NAFLD, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; LPS, lipopolysaccharides; PAMPs, pathogen-associated molecular patterns; BT, bacteria translocation; FXR, farnesoid X receptor; EnEth, endogenous ethanol; ROS, oxidative stress, and reactive oxygen species; SCFAs, short-chain fatty acids; TG, triglycerides; FFA, free fatty acids.