RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection-reduced liver functions are associated with intestinal microbial community dissimilarity. This study aimed to investigate the microbial community dissimilarity in patients with different grades of HBV-related liver cirrhosis. RESULTS: Serum endotoxin was increased with Child-Pugh (CP) class (A, B, and C). Veillonellaceae and Lachnospiraceae families were reduced in patients compared with controls. Megamonas and Veillonella genus was reduced and increased in patients compared with controls, respectively, especially in CPB and CPC groups. Correlation analysis showed that endotoxin content was significantly correlated with alcohol consumption (95% CI 0.100, 0.493), CP class (95% CI 0.289, 0.687) and Lachnospiraceae family level (95% CI - 0.539, - 0.122). Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio was correlated with the level of Lachnospiraceae family (95% CI 0.013, 0.481), Veillonellaceae family (95% CI 0.284, 0.696), Megamonas genus (95% CI 0.101, 0.518) and Veillonella genus (95% CI 0.134, 0.545). All aforementioned bacteria were independent risk or protective factors for hepatitis. Alcohol consumption changed microbial community. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that elevated Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, reduced Megamonas genus level and increased Veillonella genus level were indicators for HBV-related liver cirrhosis. Alcohol-related pathogenesis was associated with the changed microbial community.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: A noninvasive, fast, highly sensitive and simple test is needed for cancer screening in addition to the detection of biomarkers in blood. Recently, the patent (CN102565055A) for the Urinary Monohydroxyphenyl Metabolites Assay (UMM-A) was authorized, and the effectiveness of clinical application has yet to be studied further. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted consisting of 432 cancer patients, 28 benign tumor patients, 117 non-cancerous diseases patients, and 120 healthy donors to analyze the levels of monohydroxyphenyl metabolites in the urine sample. A logistic regression model was used to study the possible confounding factors affecting the diagnostic performance and to test the probability of a case to be positive for UMM-A. RESULTS: Compared with healthy donors, non-cancerous disease, and benign tumor subjects, the positive rate and MM level of UMM-A in cancer patients have significantly increased. After the 246 retreated cancer patients were excluded, and 186 untreated cancer patients were included, with the same specificity to 77.0%, the sensitivity improved from 66.7 to 89.8%, the negative predictive value improved from 58.6 to 91.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The present study has provided important information on the diagnostic characteristics of UMM-A for untreated cancer and its potential application in cancer screening.
