Health: High sugar and fat diet can cause liver disease, even liver cancer; says research

DN Bureau

A recent study from the University of Missouri School of Medicine has found a correlation between high-fat, high-sugar diets and the development of fatty liver disease. Read further on Dynamite News:

Representational Image
Representational Image


Missouri (US): A recent study from the University of Missouri School of Medicine has found a correlation between high-fat, high-sugar diets and the development of fatty liver disease, the main cause of chronic liver disease.

The study, which was conducted at MU's Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building, identified the western diet-induced microbial and metabolic contributors to liver disease, advancing our understanding of the gut-liver axis and, as a result, the development of dietary and microbial interventions for this global health threat.

"We're just beginning to understand how food and gut microbiota interact to produce metabolites that contribute to the development of liver disease," said co-principal investigator, Guangfu Li, PhD, DVM, associate professor in the department of surgery and Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. 

"Fatty liver disease is a global health epidemic," said Kevin Staveley-O'Carroll, MD, PhD, professor in the department of surgery, one of the lead researchers.

"Not only is it becoming the leading cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis, but many patients I see with other cancers have fatty liver disease and don't even know it. Often, this makes it impossible for them to undergo potentially curative surgery for their other cancers."

As part of this study, the researchers tested treating the mice with an antibiotic cocktail administered via drinking water. They found that the antibiotic treatment reduced liver inflammation and lipid accumulation, resulting in a reduction in fatty liver disease. These results suggest that antibiotic-induced changes in the gut microbiota can suppress inflammatory responses and liver fibrosis. (with ANI inputs)










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