Features of the gut microbiota in children with chronic liver diseases

   The value of the liver–gut axis is increasingly recognized as a major modulator of autoimmunity. There is no comparative analysis of data on the taxonomic diversity of the intestinal microbiota in chronic liver diseases in children.

   Purpose. To investigate the taxonomic diversity of the intestinal microbiota in children with chronic liver diseases compared with healthy patients, to identify differences in bacterial diversity in autoimmune and non-autoimmune liver diseases, as well as the impact of immunosuppressive therapy on the intestinal microbiota.

   Material and methods. A metagenomic analysis of the gut microbiota of 24 children with chronic liver diseases (mean age 10,3 ± 4,7 years) was carried out with the identification of the V3–V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. The group included 18 children with autoimmune liver diseases and 6 children with non-autoimmune liver diseases. The control group consisted of fecal samples of 34 apparently healthy children.

   Results. When comparing fecal samples of children with autoimmune liver diseases with samples of healthy children, the taxa of Bacteroides dorei, Collinsella aerofaciens, Ruminococcus caffidurs prevailed, and for children of the control group — Neisseria flavescens. When comparing samples of patients with non-autoimmune liver diseases and the control group, it was found that the taxa Bacteroides fragilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bifidobacterium longum prevailed in healthy children. When comparing fecal samples from children with autoimmune and non-autoimmune liver diseases, it was found that Veillonella dispar, Cloacibacillus porcorum, Veillonella parvula, Prevotella histicola and Bacteroides eggerthii taxa dominate in patients with non-autoimmune diseases. No dominant taxa of the gut microbiota were found in children with autoimmune liver diseases. It has been established that the taxa Veillonella dispar, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia inulinivorans, Bacteroides xylanisolvens and Alistipes obesi prevail in patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy, and the taxa Phascolarctobacterium succinatutens, Bacteroides ovatus, Solobacterium mooreis and Holdemanella massilien prevail in patients not receiving immunosuppressive therapy.

   Conclusion. A recent study of the gut microbiota in children with chronic liver disease shows differences in the imbalance of the gut microbiota compared to the results obtained in adults. The gut microbiota model is capable of distinguishing autoimmune liver diseases from non-autoimmune diseases. Immunosuppressive therapy is accompanied by the dominance of taxa that reduce the production of short-chain fatty acids.

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