AUTHOR=Long Jianfei , Gong Jingru , Zhu Han , Liu Xiaolin , Li Ling , Chen Bicui , Ren Hongyan , Liu Chao , Lu Huiping , Zhang Jiming , Wang Bin 

TITLE=Difference of gut microbiota between patients with negative and positive HBeAg in chronic hepatitis B and the effect of tenofovir alafenamide on intestinal flora

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1232180

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1232180

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Background</title><p>Severe liver diseases, such as liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer, are mainly caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV). This study investigated the differences between gut microbiota in HBeAg-positive and negative groups of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and investigated the effect of tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) on gut microbiota.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>This prospective study included patients with CHB not taking nucleoside antivirals (No-NAs group, <italic>n</italic> = 95) and those taking TAF (TAF group, <italic>n</italic> = 60). We divided CHB patients into two groups according to the HBeAg status of the subjects on the day of data collection. Phase 1 are HBeAg-negative patients and phase 2 are HBeAg-positive patients. We investigated the improvement of clinical symptoms by TAF, as well as differences in gut microbiota between different groups by 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>Gut microbiota demonstrated significant differences between patients with HBeAg-positive and -negative CHB. Both the No-NAs and TAF Phase 2 subgroups demonstrated significantly increased microbiota richness and diversity, showing greater heterogeneity. Additionally, the Phase 2 subgroup exhibited a low abundance of pathways associated with glucose metabolism and amino acid metabolism. The TAF group demonstrated a significantly decreased HBV load, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase and a significant increase in prealbumin compared with the No-NAs group. No significant difference was found in uric acid, creatinine, blood calcium, inorganic phosphorus, eGFR, and β2-microglobulin concentrations between the two groups. Additionally, the urea level in the TAF group was significantly lower than that in the No-NAs group, but with no significant effect on other indicators such as eGFR and β2-microglobulin.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>This study revealed significant differences in gut microbiota composition and function between patients with HBeAg-positive and -negative CHB.</p></sec>