Table 1.

Major clinical studies using probiotic therapy for NAFLD/NASH.

Reference	N	Probiotic Strains Used	Duration	Compared to Control/Placebo
				Biochemical Improvement	Histological Improvement
Aller [52]	14	Lactobacillus bulgaricus Streptococcus thermophilus	3 months	AST, ALT	N/A
Shavakhi [53]	32	Lactobacillus acidophilus Lactobacillus casei Lactobacillus rhamnosus Lactobacillus bulgaricus Bifidobacterium breve Bifidobacterium longum Streptococcus thermophilus	6 months	AST, ALT	N/A
Wong [54]	10	Lactobacillus plantarum Lactobacillus bulgaricus Lactobacillus acidophilus Lactobacillus rhamnosus Bifidobacterium bifidum	6 months	AST	N/A
Nabvi [55]	28	Lactobacillus acidophilus Bifidobacterium lactis	8 weeks	AST, ALT	N/A
Abdel Monem [56]	15	Lactobacillus acidophilus	17 months	AST, ALT	N/A
Wang [57]	150	Bifidobacterium Lactobacillus Enterococcus Bacillus subtilis	1 month	AST, ALT	N/A
Loguercio [60]	22	VSL #3	4 months	AST, ALT	N/A
Alisi [61]	22	VSL #3	4 months	NS	St
Eslamparast [62]	52	Lactobacillus acidophilus Lactobacillus casei Lactobacillus rhamnosus Lactobacillus bulgaricus Bifidobacterium breve Bifidobacterium longum Streptococcus thermophilus	7 months	AST, ALT	Fi
Famouri [63]	32	Lactobacillus acidophilus Bifidobacterium lactis Bifidobacterium bifidum Lactobacillus rhamnosus	12 weeks	AST, ALT	St
Manzhalii [64]	37	Lactobacilli, Bifidobacteria Streptococcus thermophilus	12 weeks	ALT	LI, Fi
Mofidi [65]	25	Lactobacillus acidophilus Lactobacillus casei Lactobacillus rhamnosus Lactobacillus bulgaricus Bifidobacterium breve Bifidobacterium longum Streptococcus thermophilus	28 weeks	AST, ALT	St, Fi
Bakhshimoghaddam [66]	34	Bifidobacterium animalis	24 weeks	AST, ALT	St
Kobyliak [67]	29	Bifidobacterium Lactobacillus Lactococcus Propionibacterium Acetobacter	8 weeks	AST	St

AST = aspartate aminotransferase; ALT = alanine aminotransferase; NS = not significant; N/A = not applicable; St = steatosis; LI = lobular inflammation; Fi = fibrosis.