Gut microbiome dysbiosis in patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma after extended hepatectomy liver failure

Yu-Chong Peng; Jing-Xuan Xu; Chuan-Fa Zeng; Xin-Hua Zhao; Le-Qun Li; Lu-Nan Qi

doi:10.21037/atm-22-1958

Gut microbiome dysbiosis in patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma after extended hepatectomy liver failure

Ann Transl Med. 2022 May;10(10):549. doi: 10.21037/atm-22-1958.

Authors

Yu-Chong Peng^#^{1

2}, Jing-Xuan Xu^#^{1

2}, Chuan-Fa Zeng^#^{1

2}, Xin-Hua Zhao^{1

2}, Le-Qun Li^{1

2

3}, Lu-Nan Qi^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital, Nanning, China.
² Key Laboratory of Early Prevention and Treatment for Regional High Frequency Tumor, Ministry of Education, Nanning, China.
³ Guangxi Liver Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Engineering and Technology Research Center, Nanning, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (B-HCC) negatively affects the gut microbiome. This study aimed to investigate the gut microbiome profiles and functions post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) after extended hepatectomy (e-PHLF) to obtain valuable insights, identify potential diagnostic biomarkers, and assist in the treatment of this disease.

Methods: B-HCC patients who underwent extended hepatectomy were consecutively recruited and divided into Group A (n=15) and Group B (n=15) based on the presence and absence of e-PHLF, respectively. The relationships between gut microbiota and extended hepatectomy liver failure were explored using 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) gene sequencing data.

Results: Following extended hepatectomy, the α-diversity of Group A was significantly higher than that of Group B (Shannon P=0.034 or Simpson P=0.031), and the β-diversity differed significantly between Groups A and B (P=0.004, R=0.100). At the genus level, 10 bacterial genera (Bacteroides, Pantoea, Methylobacterium-Methylorubrum, Inquilinus, Mycobacterium, Allisonella, Helicobacter, GCA-900066575, IS-44, and Faecalibacterium) were significantly enriched in Group A, whereas five genera (Papillibacter, Scardovia, Turicibacter, Catabacter, and Senegalimassilia) were significantly enriched in Group B. The highly abundant genera Bacteroides, Pantoea, Faecalibacterium, and Turicibacter participated in multiple amino acid metabolism pathways, organic acid metabolism pathways, pyrimidine metabolism pathways, palmitate biosynthesis, and stearate biosynthesis. Redundancy analysis showed that four environmental factors (total bilirubin, international normalized ratio, prealbumin, and albumin) were significantly correlated with intestinal microorganisms. The formation of interaction networks between different gut microbiomes revealed important correlations between the gut microbiome, and there was a significant correlation between the highly abundant gut microbiome and main functions.

Conclusions: The gut microbiota characteristics in B-HCC patients after extended hepatectomy liver failure might allow for the use of non-invasive biomarkers for disease diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: Hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (B-HCC); biomarkers; extended hepatectomy; gut microbiota; post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF).