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©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Mar 27, 2015; 7(3): 559-565
Published online Mar 27, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i3.559
Published online Mar 27, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i3.559
Probiotics as a complementary therapeutic approach in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Silvia Marinho Ferolla, Geyza Nogueira de Almeida Armiliato, Cláudia Alves Couto, Teresa Cristina Abreu Ferrari, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Centro de Pós-Graduação, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Author contributions: Ferolla SM and Ferrari TCA designed the research; Ferolla SM, Armiliato GNA and Ferrari TCA performed search; Ferolla SM, Couto CA and Ferrari TCA analyzed the data; Ferolla SM and Ferrari TCA wrote the paper; all the authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest: None of the authors have any potential financial conflict of interest related to this paper.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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/
Correspondence to: Silvia Marinho Ferolla, MSc, Centro de Pós-Graduação, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av, Professor Alfredo Balena 190, 30130-100 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. contato@silviaferolla.com.br
Telephone: +55-31-34099746 Fax: +55-31-34099664
Received: August 28, 2014
Peer-review started: August 29, 2014
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: October 30, 2014
Accepted: December 16, 2014
Article in press: December 16, 2014
Published online: March 27, 2015
Processing time: 215 Days and 7.8 Hours
Peer-review started: August 29, 2014
First decision: October 14, 2014
Revised: October 30, 2014
Accepted: December 16, 2014
Article in press: December 16, 2014
Published online: March 27, 2015
Processing time: 215 Days and 7.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an important cause of chronic liver disease. Its pathogenesis is largely unknown, and until nowadays there is no effective treatment for this disorder. Recent evidence from animal and human studies suggests that gut microbiota may play a role in the development of NAFLD. Furthermore, some data indicate that probiotics may be beneficial in NAFLD treatment. In this context, we conducted a systematic review on the use of probiotics in the treatment of NAFLD and discuss the effects of these agents and their efficacy as an emerging therapeutic resource to treat NAFLD patients.