• Weijia Han, Chunyang Huang, Qi Zhang, Shuhui Tao, Xiaomin Hu, Jianguo Xu, Ronglong Jiang, Bin Xu, Yanmin Liu, and Jinlin Hou.
• Department of Liver Disease Center, Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China.
• Eur. J. Clin. Invest. 2022 Feb 1; 52 (2): e13714.

BackgroundThe prognosis of primary bile cholangitis (PBC) is linked to gut microbiota dysbiosis. This study investigated the association between the gut microbiome and elevated total bilirubin (TB) level in PBC patients treated with ursodeoxycholic acid (UCDA).MethodsA total of 47 PBC patients with 12 months of UCDA treatment were enrolled. Patients were divided into the TB (+) (TB>1× upper limit of the normal range [ULN]; n = 20) and TB(-) (TB≤1× ULN; n = 27) groups. Stool and serum specimens were collected, and microbiota composition and functional characteristics in the 2 groups were evaluated by 16S RNA gene sequencing and bioinformatic analysis.ResultsBacterial diversity was lower in the TB(+) group than in the TB(-) group, although there was no significant difference in bacterial community profile. The phylum Saccharibacteria showed differential abundance in the 2 groups. Meanwhile, the TB(-) group had lower abundance of the Gemmiger, Blautia, Anaerostipes and Coprococcus genera than the TB(+) group, whereas Holdemania was absent. The abundance of Gemmiger formicillis and Coprococcus eutactus was positively correlated with that of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, while Blautia, Anaerostipes and Coprococcus were negatively correlated with total bile acid level.ConclusionTB level in PBC patients treated for 12 months with UCDA is associated with a distinct gut microbiome profile.© 2021 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

23 keywords...

hide…