Composition and functional change of intestinal microbiota in infantile cholestasis

• Main Author: ZHOU Jianli
• Format: Article
• Language: zho
• Published: Editorial Department of Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2021-01-01
• Series: Linchuang Gandanbing Zazhi
• Online Access: http://www.lcgdbzz.org/cn/article/doi/10.3969/j.issn.1001-5256.2021.01.025
• ISSN: 1001-5256; 1001-5256

ObjectiveTo investigate the composition and functional change of intestinal microbiota in infantile cholestasis (IC). Methods A total of 42 infants with IC who were admitted to Shenzhen Children’s Hospital from September 2014 to February 2016 were enrolled as IC group, and 32 normal infants during the same period of time were enrolled as control group. Fecal samples were collected, and shotgun sequencing was used to investigate the features of intestinal microbiota. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and eggNOG database were used to investigate the functional changes of intestinal microbiota. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison of continuous data between groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. Shannon coefficient, the Wilcoxon Rank sum test, and DESeq2 were used to calculate and analyze the data of strains and the functional pathways of genes, and Cytoscape was used to give a visual representation of abundant strains and their association. ResultsAs for the etiology of IC in the IC group, 11(26.2%) had biliary atresia, 4(9.5%) had Citrin deficiency, 4(9.5%) had bile duct dysplasia, and 23(54.8%) had unknown cause. There was a significant difference in the composition of intestinal microbiota at the phylum level between the two groups (Z=0000 046, P＜0.05), and the IC group had significant increases in Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. There were also significant differences between the two groups at the species level (Z=0.000 014, P＜0.05), and the IC group had significant reductions in the probiotic bacteria including Bifidobacterium and significant increases in the potential pathogens including Veillonella and Niastella koreensis. There was a significant difference in the function of intestinal microbiota between the two groups (Z=0.019 8, P＜0.05), and the IC group had significant reductions in the functions of intestinal microbiota such as amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism. ConclusionChanges in the composition and function of intestinal microbiota are observed in infants with IC, with a significant reduction in probiotic bacteria and a significant increase in potential pathogens, and supplementation with probiotic bacteria including Bifidobacterium can reduce the production of potential pathogens and change disease progression.