Further, in mice fed with a Western diet, a worsening of NASH symptoms was associated with the depletion of G protein-coupled chemokine receptor CX3CR1; the depletion of GM using broad-spectrum antibiotics was also found to protect mice from diet-induced NASH, similarly to what was demonstrated in germ-free mice [80]. Here, CX3CR1 is linked to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.