Call for papers - The gut microbiome: role in liver health and disease

Guest Editors

Saurabh Chatterjee, PhD, University of California, Irvine, USA
Roman Maslennikov, PhD, Sechenov University, Russia

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 18 December 2025

BMC Gastroenterology invites researchers to contribute their findings on the role of the gut microbiome in liver health and disease. We aim to explore the gut-liver axis and its implications for various hepatic conditions, including cirrhosis, hepatitis, and MASLD. Submissions should focus on microbial influences on gut-liver function, potential therapeutic interventions, and the discovery of microbial biomarkers, contributing to a deeper understanding of this critical area in gastroenterology.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Saurabh Chatterjee, PhD, University of California, Irvine, USA

Dr Chatterjee is a physiologist with specialized training in immunology. After completing his PhD in inflammation biology, he pursued his postdoctoral work at the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH. Later he continued his specialized research in chronic liver disease at Duke University, Division of Gastroenterology under the K99 portion of his NIH pathway to Independence Award. He has made significant contributions to the field of host gut-microbiome interactions with redox biology, neuroimmune pathology and gut-brain interactions in pro-inflammatory disease processes like Gulf War illness, chronic multi-symptom illnesses and brain manifestations of liver diseases, drug discovery and gut-brain directed therapeutics. He has been continually funded by NIH, DOD and the VA. Total: $7,564,895 million as of 2023.

Roman Maslennikov, PhD, Sechenov University, Russia

Dr Maslennikov graduated from the Pirogov Russian Research Medical University in 2015, then completed a residency in internal medicine and a postgraduate course in gastroenterology at Sechenov University. He received his PhD in Medicine in 2018. He has been working at Sechenov University at the Department of Introduction to Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology since 2019, first as an assistant, and since 2023 as an associate professor. Dr Maslennikov has more than 70 articles in scientific journals, including more than 60 articles indexed in the Scopus database. The Hirsch index in Scopus is 14. He has been working as a practicing physician for more than 8 years.

About the Collection

BMC Gastroenterology is calling for submissions to our Collection on The gut microbiome: role in liver health and disease. The gut microbiome has emerged as a critical player to maintain liver health and the pathogenesis of liver diseases. The intricate relationship between gut microbiota and liver function, often referred to as the gut-liver axis, highlights how changes in microbiota composition can influence liver metabolism and overall hepatic health. Recent developments in this field have revealed that dysbiosis, or microbial imbalance, may contribute to conditions such as cirrhosis, alcoholic liver disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), hepatitis, and even liver cancer, underscoring the importance of understanding this complex interplay.

In addition, recent research shows the implications of gastrointestinal pathogenicity and the exacerbation of severity/outcomes in existing chronic liver disease. Mechanistic studies featuring host susceptibility related to gut microbiome alteration in liver disease can be submitted.

Investigating the role of the gut microbiome in liver health is essential for developing novel therapeutic strategies and interventions. Recent developments have identified specific microbial signatures associated with liver diseases, paving the way for potential diagnostic and prognostic tools. Moreover, interventions such as probiotics and dietary modifications have shown promise in improving liver health outcomes by restoring microbial balance. Future research could unveil novel biomarkers for early detection, elucidate the mechanisms underlying microbial influences on liver pathology, and refine therapeutic strategies targeting the microbiome.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

The gut-liver axis and liver health
Interactions between the gut microbiome and liver immunology
Microbial metabolites and their effects on liver function
Role of gut microbiota in cirrhosis
Microbial signatures in viral hepatitis and liver cancer
Gut microbiota in alcoholic liver disease and MASLD
Gut-liver axis in autoimmune, cholestatic, hereditary and other rare liver diseases
Gut microbiome modulation as a therapeutic strategy
Probiotics and liver disease management
Environmental impact in gut-liver axis
The impact of diet on the gut-liver axis
Fecal transplantation for liver diseases

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "The gut microbiome: role in liver health and disease" from the dropdown menu.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.