Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease exhibits sex-specific microbial heterogeneity within intestinal compartments.

ABSTRACT:

Background/aims

Evidence suggests that the gastrointestinal microbiome plays a significant role in the biology of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). However, it remains unclear whether disparities in the gut microbiome across intestinal tissular compartments between the sexes lead to MASLD pathogenesis.

Methods

Sex-specific analyses of microbiome composition in two anatomically distinct regions of the gut, the small intestine and colon, were performed using an experimental model of MASLD. The study involved male and female spontaneously hypertensive rats and the Wistar-Kyoto control rat strain, which were fed either a standard chow diet or a high-fat diet for 12 weeks to induce MASLD (12 rats per group). High-throughput 16S sequencing was used

SUBMITTER: Pirola CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11791572 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature