Exploring the interplay between metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease and gut dysbiosis: Pathophysiology, clinical implications, and emerging therapies.

Abstract

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) now affects roughly one-quarter of the world's population, reflecting the global spread of obesity and insulin resistance. Reframing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease as MAFLD emphasizes its metabolic roots and spotlights the gut-liver axis, where intestinal dysbiosis acts as a key driver of hepatic injury. Altered microbial communities disrupt epithelial integrity, promote bacterial translocation, and trigger endotoxin-mediated inflammation that accelerates steatosis, lipotoxicity, and fibrogenesis. Concurrent shifts in bile acid signaling and short-chain fatty acid profiles further impair glucose and lipid homeostasis, amplifying cardiometabolic risk. Epidemiological studies reveal pervasive dysbiosis in MAFLD cohorts, linked to diet quality, sedentary behavior, adiposity, and host genetics. Newly developed microbiome-derived biomarkers, advanced elastography, and integrated multi-omics panels hold promise for non-invasive diagnosis and stratification, although external validation remains limited. In early trials, interventions that re-engineer the microbiota including tailored pre-/pro-/synbiotics, rational diet patterns, next-generation fecal microbiota transplantation, and bile-acid-modulating drugs show encouraging histological and metabolic gains. Optimal care will likely couple these tools with weight-centered lifestyle programmes in a precision-medicine framework. Key challenges include inter-ethnic variability in microbiome signatures, the absence of consensus treatment algorithms, and regulatory barriers to live biotherapeutics. Rigorous longitudinal studies are required to translate mechanistic insight into durable clinical benefit and improve patient-centered outcome measures.