Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Heterotopic Auxiliary Rat Liver Transplantation With Flow-regulated Portal Vein Arterialization in Acute Hepatic Failure
Published on: September 13, 2014
Characterization of the circulating microbiome in acute-on-chronic liver failure associated with hepatitis B
Yi Zhang1,2, Ruihong Zhao3, Ding Shi3
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Background:
Patients with hepatitis B-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HB-ACLF) may have an increased circulating microbial burden. This study aimed to assess circulating microbial load and composition and to explore the association between the circulating microbiome and both systemic inflammation (SI) and clinical outcome in HB-ACLF.
Methods:
Plasma from 50 HB-ACLF patients, 23 healthy controls and 25 patients with compensated liver cirrhosis (C-LC) was analysed for chemokines/cytokines and bacterial DNA and further analysed by 16S rDNApyrosequencing. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) and inferred metagenomics analyses were performed.
Results:
The circulating bacterial DNA was significantly increased in HB-ACLF patients compared to that in the control groups. The overall microbial diversity was significantly decreased in HB-ACLF patients. HB-ACLF patients were enriched with Moraxellaceae, Sulfurovum, Comamonas and Burkholderiaceae but were depleted in Actinobacteria, Deinococcus-Thermus, Alphaproteobacteria, Xanthomonadaceae and Enterobacteriaceae compared to controls. Network analysis revealed a direct positive correlation between Burkholderiaceae and chemokine IP-10 in HB-ACLF patients. The relative abundance of Prevotellaceae independently predicted 28-day mortality. Inferred functional metagenomics predicted an enrichment of bacteria with genes related to methane, alanine, aspartate, glutamate, pyrimidine, purine and energy metabolism.
Conclusions:
HB-ACLF patients display increased circulating microbial burden, altered microbiome composition and a shift in microbiome functionality. The alteration in circulating microbiota is associated with SI and clinical outcome in HB-ACLF.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Acute Respiratory Failure-I
Definition: It is defined by specific criteria based on blood gas measurements. Hypoxemia happens when the partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) falls below 60 mmHg. At the same time,...
Acute Respiratory Failure-II
The underlying physiological abnormalities that contribute to hypoxemic respiratory failure include:
Acute Respiratory Failure-V
Ensure that patients are monitored continuously for their response to therapy, including changes in...
Acute Respiratory Failure-III
Acute Respiratory Failure-IV
Effect of Hepatic Disease on Pharmacokinetics: Pathophysiologic Assessment and Liver Function Test

