Commentary
The gut microbiome plays a role in metabolism and maintaining gut barrier integrity, and fecal microbiota transplantation can be used to alter the gut microbiome.
The authors hypothesized that a fecal microbiota transplantation from a thin and healthy donor given to patients with NAFLD would improve insulin resistance, hepatic proton density fat fraction, which is a fundamental property of tissue that measures hepatic triglyceride concentration, and intestinal permeability.
This study demonstrated that fecal microbiota transplantation from lean healthy donors failed to improve insulin sensitivity, the primary outcome. This intervention also did not improve the percentage of fat in the liver on MRI at 6 months, but did have the potential to reduce small intestinal permeability in patients with NAFLD.
