Figure 1.

Pertinent summary of preclinical studies on gut microbiota in alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). Studies on rodent models of ALD have shown that liver inflammation was ameliorated with “gut sterilization” (A); compared to dextrose feeding, alcohol feeding was associated with colonic dysbiosis and endotoxemia (B); intragastric alcohol feeding resulted in reduced expression of bactericidal lectins leading to increase in relative abundance of pathogenic bacterial communities (C); alcohol feeding led to specific gut microbial changes that led to liver injury (D) which was ameliorated in germ-free mice, but transferable via fecal transplant from conventional mice undergoing alcohol feeding (E); short chain fatty acid diet reduced alcohol liver injury (F); and alcohol feeding was associated with gut barrier dysfunction and dysbiosis (G, H). AST—aspartate transaminase, ALT—alanine transaminase, GNB—Gram-negative bacteria, GPB—Gram-positive bacteria, MUC—mucin expression.