Study of Interrelationship Between Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

A gastrointestinal disorder recognized by altered bowel routines in relation to cramping, bloating, abdominal pain, gas, chronic diarrhea, and constipation that affects the large intestine is diagnosed as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). On the other hand, the accumulation of fat and triglycerides in the liver leading to steatosis in patients who consume little or no alcohol relates to metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, and insulin resistance recognized as Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). Around 73 literature reviews were evaluated to examine the relationship between impaired intestinal motility and deposition of excess visceral adipose tissue in the organs affecting the metabolic mechanisms, IBS and NAFLD. This study is conducted to find the interrelationship between IBS and NAFLD through various predominant pathophysiological factors that are all interconnected which include Obesity, Gut Microbiota, Bile Acid Diarrhea, Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), and Gut-Microbiome-Liver Axis. After studying various published literature, it was established that IBS and NAFLD are interlinked in nature and is associated with Gut microbiota, obesity, bile acid malabsorption and SIBO disrupting the gut-liver axis. IBS influences inflammation and immune activation through excess adiposity creating a disbalance in the composition of good microbes in the gut increasing intestinal permeability, hence, metabolites produced by microbes, such as lactate and ethanol, have the ability to directly trigger inflammatory cascades in the liver, creates an interlinked loop between IBS and NAFLD.