[Bacterial infections in liver cirrhosis]

Liver cirrhosis and complications from the perspective of dysbiosis

The gut-liver axis refers to the intimate relationship and rigorous interaction between the gut and the liver. The intestinal barrier's integrity is critical for maintaining liver homeostasis. The liver operates as a second firewall in this interaction, limiting the movement of potentially dangerous compounds from the gut and, as a result, contributing in barrier management. An increasing amount of evidence shows that increased intestinal permeability and subsequent bacterial translocation play a role in liver damage development. The major pathogenic causes in cirrhotic individuals include poor intestinal permeability, nutrition, and intestinal flora dysbiosis. Portal hypertension promotes intestinal permeability and bacterial translocation in advanced liver disease, increasing liver damage. Bacterial dysbiosis is closely related to the development of cirrhosis and its related complications. This article describes the potential mechanisms of dysbiosis in liver cirrhosis and related complications, such as spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatorenal syndrome, portal vein thrombosis, hepatic encephalopathy, and hepatocellular carcinoma, using dysbiosis of the intestinal flora as an entry point.

Assessment of the fecal lactobacilli population in patients with hepatitis B virus-related decompensated cirrhosis and hepatitis B cirrhosis treated with liver transplant

This study aims to provide an overview of the diversity of intestinal Lactobacillus among Chinese patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related decompensated cirrhosis and who received liver transplant for hepatitis B cirrhosis. Fecal samples were collected from 38 healthy volunteers, 61 patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis (group LC) and 74 patients who had liver transplant for hepatitis B cirrhosis (group LT). Quantitative polymerase chain reaction technology with species-specific primers was applied to investigate lactobacilli 16S rDNA in crude DNA, extracted from fecal samples. Software package Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and Palaeontological Statistics for Windows was used to analyze the data. Lactobacilli population of the two patient groups was different from the healthy control subjects, principal differences being marked decrease in the population of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (p < 0.001 for both patient groups) and reduction in the frequency of Lactobacillus fermentus (p < 0.001 for group LC and p < 0.01 for group LT). Our findings on the frequency of lactobacilli population suggested decreased diversity in groups LC and LT (compared with the healthy controls (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively)). Patients tended to have less complex fecal lactobacilli composition than the healthy controls, especially in the group LC.