AUTHOR=Lin Jie , Zhang Ruyi , Liu Huaie , Zhu Yunzhen , Dong Ningling , Qu Qiu , Bi Hongyan , Zhang Lihua , Luo Ou , Sun Lei , Ma Mengjuan , You Jing 

TITLE=Multi-omics analysis of the biological mechanism of the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1379064

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2024.1379064

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Background</title><p>Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a type of liver metabolic syndrome. Employing multi-omics analyses encompassing the microbiome, metabolome and transcriptome is crucial for comprehensively elucidating the biological processes underlying NAFLD.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>Hepatic tissue, blood and fecal samples were obtained from 9 NAFLD model mice and 8 normal control mice. Total fecal microbiota DNA was extracted, and 16S rRNA was amplified, to analyze alterations in the gut microbiota (GM) induced by NAFLD. Subsequently, diagnostic strains for NAFLD were screened, and their functional aspects were examined. Differential metabolites and differentially expressed genes were also screened, followed by enrichment analysis. Correlations between the differential microbiota and metabolites, as well as between the DEGs and differential metabolites were studied. A collinear network involving key genes-, microbiota-and metabolites was constructed.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p><italic>Ileibacterium</italic> and <italic>Ruminococcaceae</italic>, both belonging to Firmicutes; <italic>Olsenella</italic>, <italic>Duncaniella</italic> and <italic>Paramuribaculum</italic> from Bacteroidota; and <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic>, <italic>Coriobacteriaceae_UCG_002</italic> and <italic>Olsenella</italic> from Actinobacteriota were identified as characteristic strains associated with NAFLD. Additionally, differentially expressed metabolites were predominantly enriched in tryptophan, linoleic acid and methylhistidine metabolism pathways. The functions of 2,510 differentially expressed genes were found to be associated with disease occurrence. Furthermore, a network comprising 8 key strains, 14 key genes and 83 key metabolites was constructed.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Through this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of NAFLD alterations, exploring the gut microbiota, genes and metabolites of the results offer insights into the speculated biological mechanisms underlying NAFLD.</p></sec>