Alterations of the gut microbiota associated with the occurrence and progression of viral hepatitis

Xing Yang; Huanzhuo Mai; Jie Zhou; Zhuoxin Li; Qing Wang; Liuyan Lan; Fang Lu; Xiping Yang; Baodong Guo; Li Ye; Ping Cui; Hao Liang; Jiegang Huang

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2023.1119875

Alterations of the gut microbiota associated with the occurrence and progression of viral hepatitis

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Jun 5:13:1119875. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1119875. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xing Yang^{1

2}, Huanzhuo Mai^{1

2}, Jie Zhou^{1

2}, Zhuoxin Li^{1

2}, Qing Wang^{1

2}, Liuyan Lan^{1

2}, Fang Lu^{1

2}, Xiping Yang^{1

2}, Baodong Guo^{1

2}, Li Ye^{1

2}, Ping Cui^{2

3

4}, Hao Liang^{1

2

3

4}, Jiegang Huang^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
² Guangxi Key Laboratory of AIDS Prevention and Treatment, Guangxi Universities Key Laboratory of Prevention and Control of Highly Prevalent Disease, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
³ Life Science Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
⁴ Collaborative Innovation Centre of Regenerative Medicine and Medical BioResource Development and Application Co-constructed by the Province and Ministry, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
⁵ Guangxi Colleges and Universities Key Laboratory of Prevention and Control of Highly Prevalent Diseases, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.

Abstract

Background: Gut microbiota is the largest population of microorganisms and is closely related to health. Many studies have explored changes in gut microbiota in viral hepatitis. However, the correlation between gut microbiota and the occurrence and progression of viral hepatitis has not been fully clarified.

Methods: PubMed and BioProject databases were searched for studies about viral hepatitis disease and 16S rRNA gene sequencing of gut microbiota up to January 2023. With bioinformatics analyses, we explored changes in microbial diversity of viral hepatitis, screened out crucial bacteria and microbial functions related to viral hepatitis, and identified the potential microbial markers for predicting risks for the occurrence and progression of viral hepatitis based on ROC analysis.

Results: Of the 1389 records identified, 13 studies met the inclusion criteria, with 950 individuals including 656 patient samples (HBV, n = 546; HCV, n = 86; HEV, n = 24) and 294 healthy controls. Gut microbial diversity is significantly decreased as the infection and progression of viral hepatitis. Alpha diversity and microbiota including Butyricimonas, Escherichia-Shigella, Lactobacillus, and Veillonella were identified as the potential microbial markers for predicting the risk of development of viral hepatitis (AUC>0.7). Microbial functions including tryptophan metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, and lipid metabolism related to the microbial community increased significantly as the development of viral hepatitis.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated comprehensively the gut microbiota characteristics in viral hepatitis, screened out crucial microbial functions related to viral hepatitis, and identified the potential microbial markers for predicting the risk of viral hepatitis.

Keywords: 16s ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing; gut microbiota; liver disease; microbial markers; viral hepatitis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Feces / microbiology
Gastrointestinal Microbiome* / genetics
Hepatitis, Viral, Human*
Humans
Microbiota* / genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics

Substances

RNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Grants and funding

This work was supported by funds from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grant No. 82060366, 82273694, and 82160385) and the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 2018GXNSFAA050099).