Department of Gastroenterology, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, China.
Department of Gastroenterology, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, The Fifth Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030012, China.
J Appl Microbiol. 2023 Oct 4;134(10). doi: 10.1093/jambio/lxad221.
The gut microbiome has been recognized as a significant contributor to primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with mounting evidence indicating associations between bacterial components and cancers of the digestive system.
Here, to characterize gut bacterial signature in patients with primary HCC and to assess the diagnostic potential of bacterial taxa for primary HCC, 21 HCC patients and 21 healthy first-degree relatives (control group) were enrolled in this study. Bacterial DNA in the fecal samples was quantified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We found that 743 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were shared between patients with primary HCC and healthy controls. Of these, 197 OTUs were unique to patients with primary HCC, while 95 OTUs were unique to healthy subjects. Additionally, we observed significant differences in the abundance of Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014 and Romboutsia between patients with primary HCC and their healthy first-degree relatives. Besides, the relative abundance of Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014 and Prevotella_9 was positively correlated with physiological indicators including AST, ALT, ALB, or TBIL. Signature bacterial taxa could serve as non-invasive biomarkers, of which Romboutsia and Veillonella were identified as differential taxa in fecal samples from patients with HCC compared to healthy controls. Romboutsia showed a strong association with HCC (AUC = 0.802). Additionally, the combination of Romboutsia and Veillonella (AUC = 0.812) or the grouping of Fusobacterium, Faccalibacterium, and Peptostreptococcacae together (AUC = 0.762) exhibited promising outcomes for the diagnosis of HCC.
The composition of gut microbes in patients with HCC was found to be significantly altered. Differential taxa Romboutsia, Veillonella, and Peptostreptococcacae could be tested for identification of HCC.
肠道微生物群已被认为是原发性肝细胞癌（HCC）的重要贡献者，越来越多的证据表明细菌成分与消化系统癌症之间存在关联。
在这里，为了描述原发性 HCC 患者的肠道细菌特征，并评估细菌分类群对原发性 HCC 的诊断潜力，本研究纳入了 21 名 HCC 患者和 21 名健康一级亲属（对照组）。通过 16S rRNA 基因测序定量粪便样本中的细菌 DNA。我们发现，743 个操作分类单元（OTUs）在原发性 HCC 患者和健康对照组之间共享。其中，197 个 OTUs是原发性 HCC 患者所特有的，而 95 个 OTUs是健康受试者所特有的。此外，我们观察到原发性 HCC 患者和健康一级亲属之间 Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014 和 Romboutsia 的丰度存在显著差异。此外，Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014 和 Prevotella_9 的相对丰度与 AST、ALT、ALB 或 TBIL 等生理指标呈正相关。特征性细菌分类群可以作为非侵入性生物标志物，其中 Romboutsia 和 Veillonella 被鉴定为 HCC 患者粪便样本中的差异分类群。Romboutsia 与 HCC 具有很强的关联性（AUC=0.802）。此外，Romboutsia 和 Veillonella 的组合（AUC=0.812）或梭菌属、粪杆菌属和消化链球菌属的分组（AUC=0.762）对 HCC 的诊断具有良好的效果。
HCC 患者肠道微生物的组成发生了显著改变。差异分类群 Romboutsia、Veillonella 和 Peptostreptococcacae 可用于 HCC 的鉴定。
