益生菌对非酒精性脂肪肝治疗的潜在作用

Potential effect of probiotics in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

非酒精性脂肪肝(NAFLD)是最常见的慢性肝病之一,其发病率在中国居民中呈迅速上升趋势,但疗效显著的临床治疗手段依旧缺乏。由于肠道与肝脏在结构和功能上存在密切关系,越来越多的证据显示肠道菌群在NAFLD的发生和进展过程中扮演着重要角色。由环境因素引起的肠道菌群失调可造成肝脏受损。目前,多项动物实验结果支持益生菌对NAFLD的预防和抑制作用,采用益生菌对NAFLD患者进行干预的临床随机对照试验数量较少,但现有数据均显示服用益生菌可改善患者症状。今后需开展更大规模的多中心随机双盲安慰剂对照临床试验,为临床应用提供更可靠的依据。

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease （NAFLD） is one of the most common chronic liver disea- ses. Although the incidence rate of NAFLD is rising rapidly in our country, effective clinical treatment is still lacking. Due to the close anatomical and functional relationship between the gut and the liver, emerging evi- dence suggests an important role of gut microbiota in the initiation and progression of NAFLD. Altered gut microbiota due to environmental factors can lead to liver damage. Results of animal studies strongly support the protective effect of probiotics against NAFLD. Currently, there is only a small number of randomized controlled clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of probiotics on NAFLD treatment; nonetheless, findings show intake of probiotics can improve symptoms of the disease. More multi-centre large-scale randomized controlled trials are needed in order to provide evidence for clinical application of probiotics.