Onset of acute severe autoimmune hepatitis after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection: a case report.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can trigger autoimmune inflammation in the liver, leading to acute autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). We herein report a case involving a 39-year-old woman with a 23-day history of yellow skin and urine. Using the revised original scoring system of the International AIH Group, we definitively diagnosed the patient with acute severe AIH (AS-AIH). She began treatment with 80 mg/day intravenous methylprednisolone, which was gradually reduced and followed by eventual transition to oral methylprednisolone. The patient finally achieved a biochemical response after 30 days of therapy, and liver transplantation was avoided. Clinicians should be aware that the onset of AS-AIH after SARS-CoV-2 infection differs from the onset of conventional AIH with respect to its clinical and pathological features. Early diagnosis and timely glucocorticoid treatment are crucial in improving outcomes.

Gut microbial profile of treatment-naive patients with primary biliary cholangitis.

Background and aims: The pathogenesis of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is associated with alterations of gut microbiota. We compared the gut microbiota of PBC patients and healthy controls from Zhejiang Province and assessed the use of these data for the diagnosis of PBC. Methods: First, 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to characterize the gut microbiota of treatment-naive PBC patients (n=25) and matched healthy controls (n=25). Then, the value of gut microbiota composition for the diagnosis of PBC and assessment of PBC severity was determined. Results: The gut microbiota of PBC patients had lower diversity based on three different metrics of alpha-diversity (ace, Chao1, and observed features) and fewer overall genera (all p<0.01). PBC patients had significant enrichment of four genera and significant depletion of eight genera. We identified six amplicon sequence variants (Serratia, Oscillospirales, Ruminococcaceae, Faecalibacterium, Sutterellaceae, and Coprococcus) as optimal biomarkers to distinguish PBC patients from controls based on receiver operating characteristic analysis (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.824). PBC patients who were anti-gp210-positive had lower levels of Oscillospiraceae than those who were anti-gp210-negative. KEGG functional annotation suggested the major changes in the gut microbiota of PBC patients were related to lipid metabolism and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Conclusion: We characterized the gut microbiota of treatment-naive PBC patients and healthy controls from Zhejiang Province. The PBC patients had significant alterations in their gut microbiota, suggesting that gut microbiota composition could be useful as a non-invasive tool for the diagnosis of PBC.