The mechanisms and clinical status of microbical intervention for MASLD
| Microbial interventions | Mechanism | Clinical status | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inulin |
| Inulin reduces hepatic triglycerides, enhances lipid metabolism, and demonstrates therapeutic potential. | [88–93] |
| Fructooligofructose (FOS) |
| FOS serve as prebiotic supplements in food, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceuticals. | [94–97] |
| Lactobacillus |
| Lactobacillus demonstrates clinical significance as a probiotic and therapeutic potential for MASLD management. | [103–107] |
| Akkermansia |
| Akkermansia emerges as a next-generation probiotic candidate with therapeutic potential for MASLD and associated metabolic syndromes. | [108–112] |
| Fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) |
| FMT induces significant microbial composition alterations; long-term consequences remain understudied, necessitating longitudinal risk-benefit evaluation. | [115–120] |
| Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) |
| TCM’s “multi-component, multi-target” mechanisms exhibit high complexity; advanced omics technologies are required for mechanistic insights. | [121–125] |
| Statins |
| Statins exhibit multi-modal therapeutic effects. | [126–131] |
| Bacteriophages |
| Bacteriophage’s therapy (microbiome-targeted intervention): insufficient long-term safety validation. | [130–134] |
MASLD: metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease; SCFAs: short-chain fatty acids; GLP-1: glucagon-like peptide-1
The figures in this paper were created using Figdraw software and are published with the permission granted by the software’s license.
WQ, LH, CF, and TZ: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. HW: Investigation, Writing—review & editing. HL: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing—review & editing, Supervision.
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
This work was supported by the grant from the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (No. [ZR2023MC085]). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
© The Author(s) 2025.
Open Exploration maintains a neutral stance on jurisdictional claims in published institutional affiliations and maps. All opinions expressed in this article are the personal views of the author(s) and do not represent the stance of the editorial team or the publisher.