The Role of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Targeting Gut Microbiome

The incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has increased and become a serious global public health problem in recent years. The currently generally used clinical treatments have disadvantages such as side effects, limitations, and poor patient compliance. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a pharmacological effect with multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple pathways, emphasizing a “holistic concept” and “differential diagnosis and treatment,” which is compatible with the complex pathogenesis of GM and NAFLD. Previous studies have demonstrated a close relationship between the gut microbiome (GM) and the occurrence and progression of NAFLD. However, the mechanisms between GM and NAFLD are complex. This paper not only analyzes the relationship between the GM and the pathogenesis of NAFLD but also discusses in detail how various TCM active metabolites and Chinese herbal formulas could exert a therapeutic effect on NAFLD by regulating the GM and its metabolites. Furthermore, this paper innovatively explores how TCM regulates the abundance of five major bacterial phyla, and their representative genera, to improve the pathogenesis of NAFLD. In summary, this review article proposes innovative ideas and options for the prevention and treatment of NAFLD with focus on GM regulation, and provides a theoretical basis for the development of new drugs from traditional Chinese medicine.