The gut-brain axis underlying hepatic encephalopathy in liver cirrhosis.

Up to 50-70% of patients with liver cirrhosis develop hepatic encephalopathy (HE), which is closely related to gut microbiota dysbiosis, with an unclear mechanism. Here, by constructing gut-brain modules to assess bacterial neurotoxins from metagenomic datasets, we found that phenylalanine decarboxylase (PDC) genes, mainly from Ruminococcus gnavus, increased approximately tenfold in patients with cirrhosis and higher in patients with HE. Cirrhotic, not healthy, mice colonized with R.

Prognostic and therapeutic significance of microbial cell-free DNA in plasma of people with acute decompensation of cirrhosis.

Background & Aims: Although the effect of bacterial infection on cirrhosis has been well-described, the effect of non-hepatotropic virus (NHV) infection is unknown. This study evaluated the genome fragments of circulating microorganisms using metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in individuals with acute decompensation (AD) of cirrhosis, focusing on NHVs, and related the findings to clinical outcomes.

Methods: Plasma mNGS was performed in 129 individuals with AD of cirrhosis in the study cohort.