Alterations of the gut microbiota associated with the occurrence and progression of viral hepatitis

BACKGROUND: Gut microbiota is the largest population of microorganisms and is closely related to health. Many studies have explored changes in gut microbiota in viral hepatitis. However, the correlation between gut microbiota and the occurrence and progression of viral hepatitis has not been fully clarified. METHODS: PubMed and BioProject databases were searched for studies about viral hepatitis disease and 16S rRNA gene sequencing of gut microbiota up to January 2023. With bioinformatics analyses, we explored changes in microbial diversity of viral hepatitis, screened out crucial bacteria and microbial functions related to viral hepatitis, and identified the potential microbial markers for predicting risks for the occurrence and progression of viral hepatitis based on ROC analysis. RESULTS: Of the 1389 records identified, 13 studies met the inclusion criteria, with 950 individuals including 656 patient samples (HBV, n = 546; HCV, n = 86; HEV, n = 24) and 294 healthy controls. Gut microbial diversity is significantly decreased as the infection and progression of viral hepatitis. Alpha diversity and microbiota including Butyricimonas, Escherichia-Shigella, Lactobacillus, and Veillonella were identified as the potential microbial markers for predicting the risk of development of viral hepatitis (AUC>0.7). Microbial functions including tryptophan metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, and lipid metabolism related to the microbial community increased significantly as the development of viral hepatitis. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated comprehensively the gut microbiota characteristics in viral hepatitis, screened out crucial microbial functions related to viral hepatitis, and identified the potential microbial markers for predicting the risk of viral hepatitis.