Inflammation-targeted strategies for alcohol-associated liver injury: Insights into probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics

Alcohol-related liver injury is a widespread global health concern caused by chronic excessive alcohol consumption, with inflammation serving as the central mechanism driving disease progression. Although contemporary medical interventions offer diverse therapeutic options for alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), their efficacy is limited and may induce undesirable adverse effects. Probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics have emerged as promising therapeutic strategies due to their food-grade safety and anti-inflammatory properties. To date, there remains a lack of a comprehensive review on the impact of these biotic interventions on alcohol-related liver injury. This review examines how the metabolic byproducts generated during alcohol metabolism trigger inflammatory responses and explores the potential mechanisms linking inflammation to the progression of ALD. It also highlights that probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics represent promising therapeutic strategies due to their food-grade safety and anti-inflammatory properties.