ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To compare the levels of short-chain fatty acids in enterobacteria-related metabolites in feces between infants with cholestatic hepatopathy and healthy infants.@*METHODS@#Thirty infants with cholestatic hepatopathy were enrolled in this study as the disease group, while 30 healthy infants were enrolled as the control group. Fecal specimens were collected from the disease group before and after treatment and from the control group. Gas chromatography was used to quantitatively determine the content of short-chain fatty acids in the feces of both groups including acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, isobutyric acid, and isovaleric acid.@*RESULTS@#There were no significant differences in the concentrations of acetic acid and propionic acid between the control and disease groups before and after treatment, as well as no significant changes in the two markers in the disease group after treatment (P>0.05). The disease group had a significantly increased concentration of butyric acid after treatment (P<0.05). The concentrations of isobutyric acid and isovaleric acid in the control group were significantly higher than those in the disease group before and after treatment (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Intestinal protein metabolites in infants with cholestatic hepatopathy are significantly different from those in healthy infants, whereas there is no significant difference with respect to carbohydrate metabolites.
Subject(s)
Humans , Infant , Acetates , Butyric Acid , Enterobacteriaceae , Fatty Acids, Volatile , FecesABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the changes and clinical significance of biomarker fecal bile acids (BA) in children with Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Nineteen children with HSP and twenty-seven healthy children were enrolled in this study. The stool samples were obtained at the acute and remission phases. Fecal BA levels were measured by high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The fecal cholic acid level in the HSP remission group was significantly higher than in the HSP acute group and the healthy control group (P<0.016). The fecal chenodeoxycholic acid level in the HSP remission group was significantly higher than in the healthy control group (P<0.016). The levels of fecal secondary colonic bile acids, deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid, in the HSP acute and remission groups were significantly lower than in the healthy control group(P<0.05, P<0.016 respectively). No significant differences were found in the levels of fecal urosodeoxycholic acid among the three groups (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Fecal secondary colonic bile acids, deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid, are in decrease in children with HSP at the acute stage, which may be involved in the pathogenesis and treatment outcomes of HSP.</p>