How gut fungi may drive alcohol-related liver damage
Official title: The Role of the Intestinal Mycobiome in Alcoholic Liver Disease
Funded at University of California, San Diego · NIH-11378956 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are looking at whether specific fungi in the gut make liver damage from heavy drinking worse in people with alcohol-related liver disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Diego NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (La Jolla, United States) |
| Project start | June 1, 2017 |
| Project end | March 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $499,159 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AA024726-10 |
| Project ID | NIH-11378956 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are adults with alcohol use disorder or alcohol-associated liver disease who can provide stool, blood, or clinical information for research.
✕Less likely to help
People whose liver disease is caused by non-alcohol-related conditions (for example viral hepatitis or genetic/metabolic liver diseases) may not directly benefit from these findings.
What this research studies
This research compares the fungal communities in the intestines of people with alcohol use disorder and in mice given chronic alcohol. It follows how Candida and Malassezia species can move from the gut to the liver and trigger immune cells that cause inflammation. The team studies intestinal T cell responses, production of the inflammatory molecule IL-17, and how fungal products activate liver Kupffer cells via the Dectin-2 receptor. The goal is to pinpoint fungal-driven pathways that could be targeted to reduce alcohol-related liver injury.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could point to new ways to prevent or reduce alcohol-related liver inflammation by targeting gut fungi or the immune pathways they trigger.
How similar studies have gone: Previous patient-sample analyses and mouse experiments have reported more Candida and Malassezia with alcohol use and linked fungal antigens to liver inflammation, but targeting gut fungi in people is still an emerging approach.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Schnabl, Bernd G. — University of California, San Diego
- Study coordinator: Schnabl, Bernd G.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Microbiome and Innate Immune Response in Alcohol-Related Liver Disease
Researchers are studying how gut bacteria and the body's first-line immune defenses contribute to liver damage from alcohol, with a focus on how a specific bacteria and its toxins affect disease severity.
-
Lipotoxicity and Alcohol-Related Liver Disease
This project studies how fatty acids cause liver cell damage in alcohol-related liver disease to help develop new treatments.
-
NNMT as a Target to Treat Alcoholic Liver Disease
A study to see if blocking an enzyme called NNMT can help people with alcoholic liver disease.
-
Heat shock protein 90 and alcohol-related liver disease: how macrophages fuel inflammation
This project looks at how a cellular stress protein, HSP90, affects liver inflammation in people with alcohol-related liver disease by focusing on macrophages.
-
Why alcohol-related liver disease can come back after a transplant
Looking at whether an enzyme called CerS6 helps fat build up in the liver and whether measuring CerS6 can help detect or predict return of alcohol-related liver disease before or after a liver transplant.
-
Harmful gut bacteria linked to alcohol-related liver damage
This work looks at whether certain harmful gut bacteria make liver disease worse in people who drink heavily.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.