Bacteria engineered to treat liver disease

A method for treating a subject having liver disease, the method comprising:

• administering an engineered bacterium, or a pharmaceutical composition comprising the engineered bacterium, to the subject, and
• measuring gene expression in the colon and/or liver before the administering, and/or measuring gene expression in the colon and/or liver after administering,
• wherein the administering:
• i) reduces IL-6 gene expression in the liver by at least 10% as compared to IL-6 gene expression in the liver before the administering;
• ii) reduces TNFα gene expression in the liver by at least 10% as compared to TNFα gene expression in the liver before the administering;
• iii) reduces TGFβ gene expression in the liver by at least 10% as compared to TGFβ gene expression in the liver before the administering;
• iv) reduces αSMA gene expression in the liver by at least 10% as compared to αSMA gene expression in the liver before the administering;
• v) reduces IL-6 gene expression in the colon by at least 10% as compared to IL-6 gene expression in the colon before the administering;
• and/or
• vi) wherein blood ammonia levels are decreased by at least 5% after administering as compared to blood ammonia levels before the administering.