As its name suggests, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease describes a liver condition in which fat builds up in the livers of people who drink little or no alcohol. It can affect young, healthy people with no other comorbidities, leaving scientists and doctors stumped as to why some livers gradually fail.
A study published in Nature Medicine last week (October 10) provides clues as to a potential cause: the bacteria dwelling in our guts.
As they digest food, these microbes secrete byproducts, many of which are helpful. But some bacteria produce ethanol as they break down sugars, and a previous study in humans and mice linked ethanol-producing bacteria—namely Klebsiella pneumoniae—and fatty liver disease. In some patients, it appears, the commensal relationship between bacteria and host goes sour. The new study goes further, providing a potential mechanism for how ethanol-producing bacteria in the gut can evade diagnostic testing, stealthily dumping ethanol into ...
