Image 2_Etiology-associated differences in the gut microbiome and metabolome in hepatocellular carcinoma: an exploratory study of alcohol-related and HBV-related cases.tif

In this exploratory study, we combined fecal 16S rRNA gene sequencing and untargeted serum metabolomics with exploratory cross-omics analyses to compare gut microbial composition, serum metabolic profiles, and microbiome–metabolite association patterns between hepatitis B virus-related HCC (HBV-HCC) and alcohol-related HCC (ALD-HCC).

Forty patients who underwent primary tumor resection were included, comprising 26 with HBV-HCC and 14 with ALD-HCC. Alpha diversity indices did not differ significantly between groups, whereas within-group Bray–Curtis dissimilarity was greater in ALD-HCC and genus-level beta-diversity ordination showed only modest separation between the two groups. LEfSe-based screening suggested the enrichment of candidate taxa, including Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Lachnospira, Turicibacter, and Butyribacter in HBV-HCC, whereas Allisonella and Coprobacillus were enriched in ALD-HCC.