Gut microbial extracellular vesicles modulate the development of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis through the gut-liver axis
Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) represents a growing global health challenge due to its propensity to progress to irreversible hepatic disorders, including fibrosis, cirrhosis, and carcinoma. This study aimed to investigate the role of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of MASH. We identified Romboutsia hominis as a key contributor to MASH progression, exacerbating hepatic lipid accumulation and inflammation via the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) signaling pathway. Conversely, Akkermansia muciniphila and its extracellular vesicles (EVs) mitigated MASH by reducing hepatic lipid deposition through lipid biosynthesis-related genes downregulation. Furthermore, by integrating gut microbiota profiles and serum biomarkers using a machine learning approach, we achieved over 90% accuracy in noninvasive MASH diagnosis. These findings elucidate critical mechanisms within the gut-liver axis and suggest novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies targeting gut microbiota and their functional EVs for MASH.
Authors
- Byeonghyeok Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8187-7650)
- Daye Mun
- Wonjun Hong
- Sangdon Ryu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5338-8385)
- Duleepa Pathiraja (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6239-5958)
- Kwangcheol Casey Jeong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4337-0426)
- Seon-hui Son (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0721-1407)
- Min‐Jin Kwak
- Ju-Young Eor
- Hyejin Choi
- Jun-Kyum Kim
- Younghoon Kim
- Yong-Soon Choi
- Kwang-Youn Whang
Institutions
- Seoul National University (KR)
- Korea University (KR)
- University of Florida (US)
- Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- National Institute of Biological Resources (KR)
- National University College (PR)
- Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- University of Colombo (LK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Pharmacological Research
- Published
- 2026-04-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2026.108184
- Primary Topic
- Gut microbiota and health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Seoul National University
- Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
- Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture and Forestry