Gut bugs linked to liver damage in new study

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * For patients and healthy volunteers: * Age between 18 and 80 years. * Non-diabetic participant (fasting blood glucose \< 1.26 g/L, or absence of insulin therapy or oral antidiabetic medication). * Body mass index (BMI) between 18 and 30 kg/m². * For women of childbearing potential, use of at least one recognized effective contraceptive method. * Very regular bowel movements every 24 to 48 hours. * Participant living within 100 km of the Lyon Sud Hospital Center (CHLS). * Participant willing to participate in the study and providing written informed consent. * Participant affiliated with the general French Social Security system or an equivalent scheme. * For patients: * Presence of MASLD according to the definition of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), defined by hepatic steatosis on imaging performed within the previous year (abdominal ultrasound, abdominal CT scan, magnetic resonance imaging, or controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) measured by FibroScan) and at least one cardiometabolic criterion among: dyslipidemia, arterial hypertension, overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²), impaired glucose tolerance, or type 2 diabetes. * No history of liver transplantation. * No excessive alcohol consumption (less than 20 g/day for women and less than 30 g/day for men). * Patient followed in the Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition Department at Lyon Sud Hospital. Exclusion Criteria: * For patients and healthy volunteers: * Participant with active inflammatory, infectious, cardiovascular, or neoplastic disease. * Participant with a history of colectomy, small bowel resection, or cholecystectomy. * Participant who received antibiotics, prebiotics, or probiotics within the past 3 months. * Participant using laxatives (more than 2 doses per day over the past 3 months). * Participant with chronic constipation. * Pregnant, parturient, or breastfeeding women. * Participant deprived of liberty by judicial or administrative decision. * Participant receiving psychiatric care. * Participant institutionalized for reasons other than research. * Adult participant under legal protection (guardianship or trusteeship). * Participant who does not understand the French language and cannot provide informed consent. * Participant already enrolled in a study presenting a conflict of interest with the present study. * For healthy volunteers * Known liver disease * No long-term drug medication except oral contraception for women.