Intestinal Virome Signature Associated With Severity of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Patients with more advanced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) had significantly decreased viral diversity in their gut microbiome.

• A significant reduction in intestinal viral diversity was observed in patients with NAFLD and a higher NAFLD Activity Score (NAS 5-8) compared to those with lower scores or control individuals.
• More advanced NAFLD was associated with a decreased proportion of bacteriophages relative to other intestinal viruses.
• A predictive model incorporating viral diversity and clinical variables achieved an area under the curve of 0.95 for identifying patients with severe NAFLD (NAS 5-8/LCI).
• The model also identified patients with F2-F4 fibrosis with an area under the curve of 0.88, indicating its effectiveness in detecting advanced liver disease.
• Including data on viral diversity improved the accuracy of multivariate models compared to those based solely on clinical parameters or bacterial diversity.

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