Association Between Gut Microbiota and Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Biliary Tract Cancer: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Overview

Journal World J Clin Cases

Publisher Baishideng Publishing Group

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2024 Jul 10

PMID 38983434

Authors

Ye Zhang

Fa-Ji Yang

Qi-Rong Jiang

Heng-Jun Gao

Xie Song

Hua-Qiang Zhu

Xu Zhou

Jun Lu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: An increasing number of studies have begun to discuss the relationship between gut microbiota and diseases, yet there is currently a lack of corresponding articles describing the association between gut microbiota and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and biliary tract cancer (BTC). This study aims to explore the relationship between them using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis method.

Aim: To assess the relationship between gut microbiota and HCC and BTC.

Methods: We obtained Genome-wide association study (GWAS) data for the gut microbiome from the intestinal microbiota genomic library (MiBioGen, https://mibiogen.gcc.rug.nl/). Additionally, we accessed data pertaining to HCC and BTC from the IEU open GWAS platform (https://gwas.mrcieu.ac.uk/). Our analysis employed fundamental instrumental variable analysis methods, including inverse-variance weighted, MR and Egger. To ensure the dependability of the results, we subjected the results to tests for multiple biases and heterogeneity.

Results: During our investigation, we discovered 11 gut microbiota linked to an increased risk to BTC and HCC. The former included the genus ( = 0.017), ( = 0.034), ( = 0.021), ( = 0.034), the order ( = 0.018), and the class ( = 0.0.18). The latter included the genus ( = 0.042), ( = 0.023), the family ( = 0.048), the order ( = 0.048), and the class ( = 0.048). Furthermore, in BTC, we observed 2 protective gut microbiota namely the genus ( = 0.041) and ( = 0.045). All results showed no evidence of multiplicity or heterogeneity.

Conclusion: This study explores a causal link between gut microbiota and HCC and BTC. These insights may enhance the mechanistic knowledge of microbiota-related HCC and BTC pathways, potentially informing therapeutic strategies.

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