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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Aug 28.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Pharmacol Rep. 2019 Jun 10;5(4):303–316. doi: 10.1007/s40495-019-00187-4

Figure 1: Ingestion of food additives can cause gut dysbiosis and liver dysfunction.

Figure 1:

Our diet is one of the greatest influencers on the gut microbiota. An imbalance in intestinal microbiota composition (alias gut dysbiosis) can cause systemic effects, including impacting liver health. In this case, the consumption of dietary additives (i.e. HFCS, emulsifiers, flavor enhancers, prebiotics) can cause gut dysbiosis, resulting in the generation of gut endotoxins (i.e. LPS), which travel through the portal vein towards the liver. These endotoxins can initiate hepatic inflammation, which can progress to fibrosis and hepatocarcinogenesis.