Gut Microbe Linked to Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Susan S. Baker, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics, is quoted in articles on research that found strains of the bacterium Klebsiella pneumonia, which produces high levels of alcohol, in 60 percent of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a common disorder in which fat builds up in the liver. Baker, who was not involved in the study, said, “Other bacteria have been shown to make alcohol, so that… verifies what other researchers have seen. We’ve never really been able to induce the inflammation that you see [in people], but they were able to do that.”