ArticleHepatology international2013
Probiotics promote rapid-turnover protein production by restoring gut flora in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis.
Article in Hepatology international, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of gut microbiota in modulating immune responses in chronic liver disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of probiotics on liver function, inflammation, and gut microbiota in alcoholic liver injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Clinical efficacy of probiotics in the treatment of alcoholic liver disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Pooled it
- Probiotics are beneficial for liver cirrhosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Intestinal microbiome-targeted therapies improve liver function in alcohol-related liver disease by restoring bifidobacteria: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Probiotics for people with hepatic encephalopathy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Article
- Unraveling the Gut-Liver-Brain Axis: Microbiome, Inflammation, and Emerging Therapeutic Approaches.Mediators of inflammation · 2025Review
- Food plants as adjuvant medicines: a review of protective effects and clinical potential in alcoholic liver disease.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Targeting gut health: Probiotics as promising therapeutics in alcohol-related liver disease management.AIMS microbiology · 2025Review
- Sarcopenia in cirrhosis: Prospects for therapy targeted to gut microbiota.World journal of gastroenterology · 2023Review
- Probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and alcohol-associated liver disease.American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology · 2023Review
- Efficacy of probiotics in the treatment of minimal hepatic encephalopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical and experimental hepatology · 2023Article
- Therapeutic possibilities of gut microbiota modulation in acute decompensation of liver cirrhosis.World journal of hepatology · 2023Review
- Harnessing the potential of probiotics in the treatment of alcoholic liver disorders.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Review
- Dose-Dependent Relationship between Protection of Thioacetamide-Induced Acute Liver Injury and Hyperammonemia and Concentration of Lactobacillus salivarius Li01 in Mice.Microbiology spectrum · 2021Article
- DietaryExperimental and therapeutic medicine · 2021Article
- Article
- Probiotics in hepatology: An update.World journal of hepatology · 2021Review
- Are Probiotics Effective in Targeting Alcoholic Liver Diseases?Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsAccumulating evidence suggests that deterioration of the gut flora contributes to the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver cirrhosis (ALC). However, the ALC flora profile and its response to probiotic treatment have not been fully examined. This double-blind placebo-controlled study aimed to evaluate whether the probiotic beverage Yakult 400 (Y400), which contains Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota, improves liver function in ALC patients, and to analyze the precise gut flora profile by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR).
methodsA total of 37 hospitalized ALC patients were randomly allocated to Y400 (n = 18) and placebo (n = 19) groups. Y400 or placebo was served twice a day during the first half of the four-week study. Serum concentrations of rapid-turnover proteins (i.e., transthyretin and transferrin), hypersensitive C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6 were measured weekly. qPCR analysis of fecal bacteria was performed biweekly; stocked fecal samples from 46 healthy subjects were used as references.
resultsSerum transthyretin levels significantly increased in the Y400 group in week 3; similar-although statistically insignificant-increases were seen for transferrin and albumin. Levels of hypersensitive C-reactive protein, but not interleukin-6, significantly decreased in week 4. Before treatment, populations of obligate anerobic bacteria were significantly smaller and those of Enterobacteriaceae were larger in patients than in healthy subjects examined in a previous study. Y400 corrected this imbalance.
conclusionsThis is the first report describing the unique gut flora of ALC patients. Y400 treatment normalized the gut flora and improved liver function. These promising findings warrant further investigation in larger, multicenter studies.
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