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Alloveda Liver Update: Intestinal virome in alcoholic hepatitis

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eMediNexus    07 August 2020

Alcoholic hepatitis is a severe form of alcohol-associated liver disease and is associated with high mortality. Gut bacteria and fungi are known to alter disease severity; however, the information is scarce on the impact of the viral microbiome (virome) in patients with alcohol-associated liver disease.

For the purpose of the present study, Jiang et al extracted virus-like particles from 89 patients with alcoholic hepatitis recruited in a multicenter observational study, 36 patients with alcohol use disorder, and 17 subjects without alcohol use disorder who served as controls.

There was an enhanced viral diversity in fecal samples obtained from patients with alcohol-associated liver disease. The most significant changes were evident in samples obtained from patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Escherichia-, Enterobacteria-, and Enterococcus phages seemed to have an overrepresentation in the samples from patients with alcoholic hepatitis, besides significant elevations in mammalian viruses including Parvoviridae and Herpesviridae.

Antibiotic treatment was tied to greater viral diversity. Specific taxa, such as Staphylococcus phages and Herpesviridae, were found to be linked with increased disease severity, as evidenced by a higher median model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, and association with increased 90-day mortality.

Intestinal viral taxa were thus found to be altered in fecal samples of patients with alcoholic hepatitis and were associated with disease severity and mortality. The study demonstrates an intestinal virome signature that is linked with alcoholic hepatitis.

Source: Jiang L, Lang S, Duan Y, et al. Intestinal virome in patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Hepatology. 2020 Jul 12. doi: 10.1002/hep.31459.

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