Identification of commensal gut bacterial strains with lipogenic effects contributing to NAFLD in children

Jia Wei; Jiayou Luo; Fei Yang; Wen Dai; Xiongfeng Pan; Miyang Luo

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.108861

Identification of commensal gut bacterial strains with lipogenic effects contributing to NAFLD in children

iScience. 2024 Jan 11;27(2):108861. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.108861. eCollection 2024 Feb 16.

Authors

Jia Wei¹, Jiayou Luo¹, Fei Yang², Wen Dai¹, Xiongfeng Pan¹, Miyang Luo¹

Affiliations

¹ Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha 410078, Hunan, China.
² Hunan Province Key Laboratory of Typical Environmental Pollution and Health Hazards, School of Public Health, University of South China, Hengyang 421001, Hunan, China.

Abstract

Gut microbiota is known to have a significant impact on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), particularly in children with obesity. However, the specific functions of microbiota at the strain level in this population have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we successfully isolated and identified several commensal gut bacterial strains that were dominant in children with obesity and NAFLD. Among these, four novel isolates were found to have significant lipogenic effects in vitro. These strains exhibited a potential link to hepatocyte steatosis by regulating the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism and inflammation. Moreover, a larger cohort analysis confirmed that these identified bacterial strains were enriched in the NAFLD group. The integrated analysis of these strains effectively distinguished NASH from NAFL. These four strains might serve as potential biomarkers in children with NAFLD. These findings provided new insights into the exploration of therapeutic targets for NAFLD.

Keywords: Human metabolism; Microbiology; Microbiome.