Gut microbiota modulation as an alternative in the management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and obesity

Abstract

Nowadays, obesity and NAFLD are two of the most important public health concerns worldwide. The lack of an effective treatment to face them, along with the current sedentary lifestyle and the intake of high-fat and high-sugar diets have led to an increasing trend in the prevalence of both diseases, with shocking future estimations. In the last years, gut microbiota has been identified as a key contributor factor to the development of these diseases, so it has become a research field not only in the characterization of the pathogenic mechanisms, but also in the hunt for new therapeutic alternatives. In this sense, the modulation of gut microbiota through different strategies such as fecal microbiota transplantation or the administration of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics are being considered as possible treatments to face both obesity and NAFLD. In the present PhD Thesis, the general aim is to identify the role of the gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of these two diseases, as well as to explore the therapeutic potential of gut microbiota modulation.