AUTHOR=Yang Ting , Yang Shen , Zhao Jiawei , Wang Peize , Li Siqi , Jin Yuyan , Liu Zhaozhou , Zhang Xinyue , Zhang Yanan , Zhao Yong , Liao Junmin , Li Shuangshuang , Hua Kaiyun , Gu Yichao , Wang Dingding , Huang Jinshi 

TITLE=Comprehensive Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Fecal Bile Acid Profiles in Children With Biliary Atresia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2022.914247

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2022.914247

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Biliary atresia (BA) is the most common cholestatic liver disease in neonates. Herein, we aimed at characterizing the gut microbiota and fecal bile acid profiles of BA patients, defining the correlations between them, and evaluating the relationship between the clinical pathogenesis and changes in the gut microbiota and bile acid profiles.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A total of 84 fecal samples from BA patients (n = 46) and matched healthy controls (HCs, n = 38) were subjected to sequencing by 16S rRNA gene amplification, and fecal bile acid were analyzed by targeted metabolomics.</p></sec><sec><title>Findings</title><p>Compared with the controls, a structural separation of the intestinal flora of BA patients was uncovered, which was accompanied by changes in the composition of fecal bile acids. In the BA group, <italic>Actinobacillus</italic>, <italic>Monoglobus</italic>, and <italic>Agathobacter</italic> were enriched in patients without cholangitis (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). <italic>Selenomonadaceae</italic> and <italic>Megamonas</italic> were more abundant in patients without recurrent cholangitis episodes (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), while <italic>Lachnospiraceae</italic> and <italic>Ruminococcaceae</italic> were enriched in patients with multiple recurrences of cholangitis (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). Postoperative jaundice clearance was associated with <italic>Campylobacter</italic> and <italic>Rikenellaceae</italic> (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), and tauroursodeoxycholic acid was associated with jaundice clearance (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>BA patients are characterized by different compositions of gut microbiota and bile acids, and their interaction is involved in the process of liver damage in BA, which may be closely related to the occurrence of postoperative cholangitis and jaundice clearance.</p></sec>