Protective and aggressive bacterial subsets and metabolites modify hepatobiliary inflammation and fibrosis in a murine model of PSC.

Objective: Conflicting microbiota data exist for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and experimental models.

Goal: define the function of complex resident microbes and their association relevant to PSC patients by studying germ-free (GF) and antibiotic-treated specific pathogen-free (SPF) multidrug-resistant 2 deficient ( ) mice and microbial profiles in PSC patient cohorts.

Design: We measured weights, liver enzymes, RNA expression, histological, immunohistochemical and fibrotic biochemical parameters, faecal 16S rRNA gene profiling and metabolomic endpoints in gnotobiotic and antibiotic-treated SPF mice and targeted metagenomic analysis in PSC patients.