Low-diversity microbiota and an increased metabolism of arginine and aromatic amino acids: a hallmark of hepatic encephalopathy in western Mexican patients with alcohol-associated cirrhosis.

Aims: To evaluate the composition and functions of the gut microbiota in patients with decompensated alcohol-associated cirrhosis, with and without hepatic encephalopathy (HE).

Methods And Results: Faecal samples from 31 inpatients (20 with HE, 11 without HE), and from 18 age-balanced healthy controls (HC), were included. Microbial composition was determined by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and analysed using QIIME2.