The Impact of Pectin Supplementation on Systematic Inflammation Pathway, Gut Microbiome, and Metabolic Health in Patients With Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD)

Exclusion Criteria

• •Have allergy toward soya, milk or chocolate.
• •Have allergy toward pectin.
• •Participants on vegan diet.
• •Have eating disorders or difficulties or gastrointestinal conditions e.g. malabsorptive conditions such as coeliac, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) or gastroparesis.
• •Have chronic malnutrition condition.
• •History of major surgery which potentially limits participation or completion of the study.
• •History of previous intestinal surgery known to affect food intake or digestive function, including bariatric surgery.
• •Use of antibiotics, antifungal medications, probiotics or prebiotics 90 days before the start of the study.
• •Are taking the following medications: immunosuppressants, amiodarone and/or perhexiline.
• •Are currently following or anticipated to commence a specialised commercially available weight loss diet and/or program or concomitant use of any weight loss medication or herbal weight loss products.
• •History of side effects towards probiotics or prebiotics.
• •History or current psychiatric illness.
• •History or current neurological condition (e.g. epilepsy).
• •Participants with other liver abnormalities.
• •Evidence of monogenic metabolism diseases such as Lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LALD), Wilson disease, Hypobetalipoproteinemia, or inborn errors of metabolism.
• •Have had a weight change exceeding 3 kg within 3 months.
• •Uncontrolled diabetes, active malignancy, or chronic infections.
• •Having symptoms of active infection.
• •Excessive alcohol intake defined as self-reported intakes greater than 21 units per week in men, and 14 units per week in women.
• •Participants who are pregnant, breast feeding or actively planning pregnancy will be excluded from the study.
• •Participation in any other trial in the last 3 months.
• •Contraindications for MRI scanning: having pacemakers, defibrillators, neurostimulators, prohibited medical implants, and foreign bodies (e.g. bullets, shrapnel, metal slivers), history of metallic foreign body in eye(s) and penetrating eye injury that could present a risk during an MRI scan.
• •Difficulty breathing or inability to lie flat, as well as conditions that could worsen under stress (such as anxiety or panic disorders, claustrophobia, uncontrolled hypertension, or seizure disorders) severe enough to prevent undergoing an MRI.