Fatty liver disease is becoming increasingly common in both adults and children, and scientists are trying to understand why some people develop it so early in life.
A growing body of research suggests that the risk may begin even before birth.
A new study from the University of Oklahoma offers hopeful evidence that this risk might be reduced by supporting healthy gut bacteria during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Fatty liver disease happens when too much fat builds up in liver cells. Over time, this can damage the liver and increase the risk of serious health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and liver failure.
A form known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, or MASLD, is closely linked to obesity and poor metabolic health. In children, this condition can progress faster than in adults and often goes unnoticed for years because it causes few early symptoms.
Researchers have found that a mother’s diet plays a major role in shaping a child’s future health. Diets high in fat and sugar during pregnancy and breastfeeding can increase a child’s risk of obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease later in life.
This happens partly because the developing baby is exposed to harmful metabolic signals and partly because the mother passes on her gut bacteria to her child.
The new study focused on a natural compound called indole. Indole is made by healthy gut bacteria when they break down tryptophan, an amino acid found in foods such as turkey, eggs, nuts, and seeds.
Indole has been shown in earlier research to reduce inflammation and improve metabolic health. The scientists wanted to know whether this compound could protect children from the harmful effects of an unhealthy maternal diet.
To explore this question, researchers studied female mice that were fed a high-fat, high-sugar diet similar to a typical Western diet. These mice were kept on this diet during pregnancy and while nursing their young.
Some of the mice were also given indole. After the offspring were weaned, they were fed a normal diet for a period and later switched to a high-fat, high-sugar diet to encourage fatty liver disease.
The results were striking. Offspring born to mothers that received indole were far healthier than those whose mothers did not. Even when exposed to an unhealthy diet later in life, these offspring gained less weight, had lower blood sugar levels, and developed much less fat in their livers.
Their liver cells were healthier, and their fat tissue was made up of smaller, less harmful fat cells.
The researchers also discovered that indole activated a protective pathway in the gut involving a protein called the acyl hydrocarbon receptor. This pathway appears to help regulate inflammation and fat metabolism. Importantly, the offspring showed lower levels of harmful fats in the liver and higher levels of fats that are thought to protect liver cells.
One of the most important findings involved the gut microbiome. The researchers transferred gut bacteria from the protected offspring into other mice that had not received indole.
These recipient mice also showed reduced liver damage, even without direct indole treatment. This confirmed that changes in gut bacteria played a key role in protecting against fatty liver disease.
The study highlights how powerful early-life influences can be. Because children inherit much of their microbiome from their mothers, an unhealthy maternal diet can shape the gut environment in ways that increase disease risk. On the other hand, improving the mother’s gut health may help protect children long before symptoms appear.
Although this research was done in animals and cannot yet be applied directly to humans, the findings point toward promising new prevention strategies. At present, there are no approved medications for children with MASLD, and weight loss remains the only effective treatment once the disease develops. Preventing the disease before it starts would be far more effective.
The researchers believe that supporting a healthy microbiome during pregnancy and breastfeeding could one day become part of strategies to reduce childhood fatty liver disease. While more research is needed, this study adds to growing evidence that a mother’s diet and gut health can have lifelong effects on a child’s metabolic health.
By focusing on prevention rather than treatment, scientists hope to reduce the burden of fatty liver disease and give future generations a healthier start in life.
If you care about liver health, please read studies about simple habit that could give you a healthy liver, and common diabetes drug that may reverse liver inflammation.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about simple blood test that could detect your risk of fatty liver disease, and results showing this green diet may strongly lower non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
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