Dysbiosis of gut microbiota during the progression of HBV-related liver disease is not well understood, as there are very few reports that discuss the featured bacterial taxa in different stages. The aim of this study was to reveal the featured bacterial species whose abundances are directly associated with HBV disease progression, that is, progression from healthy subjects to, chronic HBV infection, chronic hepatitis B to liver cirrhosis. Approximately 400 fecal samples were collected, and 97 samples were subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing after age and BMI matching. Compared with the healthy individuals, significant gut microbiota alterations were associated with the progression of liver disease. LEfSe results showed that the HBV infected patients had higher Fusobacteria, Veillonella, and Haemophilus abundance while the healthy individuals had higher levels of Prevotella and Phascolarctobacterium. Indicator analysis revealed that 57 OTUs changed as the disease progressed, and their combination produced an AUC value of 90% (95% CI: 86–94%) between the LC and non-LC groups. In addition, the abundances of OTU51 (Dialister succinatiphilus) and OTU50 (Alistipes onderdonkii) decreased as the disease progressed, and these results were further verified by qPCR. The LC patients had the higher bacterial network complexity, which was accompanied with a lower abundance of potential beneficial bacterial taxa, such as Dialister and Alistipes, while they had a higher abundance of pathogenic species within Actinobacteria. The compositional and network changes in the gut microbiota in varied CHB stages, suggest the potential contributions of gut microbiota in CHB disease progression.

Background: Although recent studies have indicated that intestinal microbiota dweller are involved in the pathogenesis of allergy rhinitis (AR), the influence of gut microbiota on AR adult has not been fully elucidated yet. Hence, we carried out this study to uncover the distinctive bacterial taxa that differentiate allergy rhinitis patients from healthy individuals. Feces samples from thirty three AR patients and thirty one healthy individuals were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: Results showed that the bacterial diversity in AR group was significantly higher than that of the non-AR group. Bacterial communities between AR and non-AR group were significantly differentiated as revealed by Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) and the variation within non-AR were higher than that of the counterpart. Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Chloroflexi were the significantly differed phyla taxa and the top significantly distinguished bacterial genus included Prevotella_9, Phascolarctobacterium, Roseburia, Megamonas, Alistipes, Lachnoclostridium and Fusobacterium. The higher network complexity in AR group were dominated by taxa belonging to Firmicutes. The predicted function, alpha linolenic acid metabolism and bacterial invasion of epithelial cells pathway were higher in non-AR group while gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) signaling pathway, Fc γ-R mediated phagocytosis and endocytosis were higher in AR patients. Although the bacterial diversity between moderate and severe AR patients showed no significant difference, the significant correlation between featured genus and total nasal symptom score or rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire, such as Butyricicoccus and Eisenbergiella, revealed the potential to intervene the AR status by means of gut microbiota. Conclusions: In conclusion, patients with allergy rhinitis had distinguished gut microbiota characteritics in comparison with healthy controls. The results suggest that gut microbiota might play crucial roles in influencing the course and different symptoms of AR. Trial registration ChiCTR, ChiCTR1900028613. Registered 29 December 2019, https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=47650.

Recent research has revealed the importance of the appendix in regulating the intestinal microbiota and mucosal immunity. However, the changes that occur in human gut microbial communities after appendectomy have never been analyzed. We assessed the alterations in gut bacterial and fungal populations associated with a history of appendectomy. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the association between appendectomy and the gut microbiome using 16S and ITS2 sequencing on fecal samples from 30 healthy individuals with prior appendectomy (HwA) and 30 healthy individuals without appendectomy (HwoA). Analysis showed that the gut bacterial composition of samples from HwA was less diverse than that of samples from HwoA and had a lower abundance of Roseburia, Barnesiella, Butyricicoccus, Odoribacter, and Butyricimonas species, most of which were short-chain fatty acids-producing microbes. The HwA subgroup analysis indicated a trend toward restoration of the HwoA bacterial microbiome over time after appendectomy. HwA had higher gut fungi composition and diversity than HwoA, even 5 years after appendectomy. Compared with those in samples from HwoA, the abundance correlation networks in samples from HwA displayed more complex fungal–fungal and fungal–bacterial community interactions. This study revealed a marked impact of appendectomy on gut bacteria and fungi, which was particularly durable for fungi.

Gypenosides (GP) are a type of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) extracted from plants and commonly applied for treatment of metabolic diseases. This study aims to explore the effects of GP extracts on alleviating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this experiment, C57BL/6 J mice were randomly assigned into normal diet control (ND), HFHC (high-fat and high-cholesterol) and HFHC + GP (GP) groups. Mice in HFHC group were fed HFHC diet combined with fructose drinking water for 12 weeks to induce the animal model of NAFLD, followed by ordinary drinking water until the end of the experiment. In the HFHC + GP group, mice were fed HFHC diet combined with fructose drinking water for 12 weeks, followed by GP-containing drinking water till the end. Mouse body weight was measured weekly. After animal procedures, mouse liver and serum samples were collected. It is shown that GP administration reduced body weight, enhanced the sensitivity to insulin resistance (IR) and decreased serum levels of ALT, AST and TG in NAFLD mice. In addition, GP treatment alleviated steatohepatitis, and downregulated ACC1, PPARγ, CD36, APOC3 and MTTP levels in mice fed with HFHC diet. Furthermore, GP treatment markedly improved intestinal microbiota, and reduced relative abundance ratio of Firmicutes / Bacteroidetes in the feces of NAFLD mice. Our results suggested that GP alleviated NAFLD in mice through improving intestinal microbiota.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common liver disease highly associated with metabolic diseases and gut dysbiosis. Several clinical trials have confirmed that fructooligosaccharides (FOSs) are a viable alternative treatment for NAFLD. However, the mechanisms underlying the activities of FOSs remain unclear. In this study, the effects of FOSs were investigated with the use of two C57BL/6 J mouse models of NAFLD induced by a high-fat, high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet and a methionine- and choline-deficient (MCD) diet, respectively. The measured metabolic parameters included body, fat, and liver weights; and blood glucose, glucose tolerance, and serum levels of glutamate transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and triglycerides. Liver tissues were collected for histological analysis. In addition, 16 S rRNA sequencing was conducted to investigate the effects of FOSs on the composition of the gut microbiota of mice in the HFHC and MCD groups and treated with FOSs. FOS treatment attenuated severe metabolic changes and hepatic steatosis caused by the HFHC and MCD diets. In addition, FOSs remodeled the structure of gut microbiota in mice fed the HFHC and MCD diets, as demonstrated by increased abundances of Bacteroidetes (phylum level), Klebsiella variicola, Lactobacillus gasseri, and Clostridium perfringens (species level); and decreased abundances of Verrucomicrobia (phylum level) and the Fissicatena group (genus level). Moreover, the expression levels of genes associated with lipid metabolism and inflammation (i.e., ACC1, PPARγ, CD36, MTTP, APOC3, IL-6, and IL-1β) were down-regulated after FOS treatment. FOSs alleviated the pathological phenotype of NAFLD via remodeling of the gut microbiota composition and decreasing hepatic lipid metabolism, suggesting that FOSs as functional dietary supplements can potentially reduce the risk of NAFLD.