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World J Gastroenterol. Dec 28, 2020; 26(48): 7603-7618
Published online Dec 28, 2020. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v26.i48.7603
Gut microbiota mediated molecular events and therapy in liver diseases
Xiaoqiang Qi, Ming Yang, Joseph Stenberg, Rahul Dey, Leslie Fogwe, Muhammad Shawkat Alam, Eric T Kimchi, Kevin F Staveley-O'Carroll, Guangfu Li
Xiaoqiang Qi, Ming Yang, Joseph Stenberg, Rahul Dey, Leslie Fogwe, Muhammad Shawkat Alam, Eric T Kimchi, Kevin F Staveley-O'Carroll, Guangfu Li, Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, United States
Xiaoqiang Qi, Ming Yang, Eric T Kimchi, Kevin F Staveley-O'Carroll, Guangfu Li, Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, United States
Xiaoqiang Qi, Ming Yang, Eric T Kimchi, Kevin F Staveley-O'Carroll, Guangfu Li, VA Hospital, Harry S Truman Memorial VA Hospital, Columbia, MO 65201, United States
Guangfu Li, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, United States
Author contributions: Qi X, Yang M, and Stenberg J collected data, wrote the paper, and contributed equally; Dey R, Fogwe L, and Alam MS collected data and partly drafted the paper's first version; Kimchi ET, Staveley-O’Carroll KF, and Li G designed, revised, and finalized the manuscript, co-corresponding authors.
Supported by NIH Grant, No. R01CA208396; and VA Merit Award, No. I01 BX004065-1.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Guangfu Li, DVM, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Missouri, 230 Jesse Hall, Columbia, MO 65212, United States. liguan@health.missouri.edu
Received: October 20, 2020
Peer-review started: October 20, 2020
First decision: November 13, 2020
Revised: November 24, 2020
Accepted: December 6, 2020
Article in press: December 6, 2020
Published online: December 28, 2020
Processing time: 65 Days and 18.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Accumulating evidence shows that gut microbiota plays a critical role in liver pathophysiology and targeting gut microbiota is a potential treatment option for chronic liver disease. Herein, this review explores the cellular and molecular mechanisms of how gut microbiota contributes to liver diseases, including alcohol-induced and nonalcohol-induced liver fatty liver diseases, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and cancer. This review also summarizes the current gut microbiota-based therapeutic strategies and discusses future directions in promoting gut microbiota-based therapy for liver diseases.