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Updated: Jul 7, 2025
Murine Fecal Isolation and Microbiota Transplantation
Published on: May 26, 2023
Human gut microbiota from hepatitis B virus-infected individuals is associated with reduced triglyceride level in
Han-Na Kim1, Hae Suk Cheong2, Bomi Kim2
1Department of Clinical Research Design and Evaluation, Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, Sungkyunkwan University, 115 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 06355, Republic of Korea; Biomedical Statistics Center, Research Institute for Future Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 06351, Republic of Korea.
Background And Aims:
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is associated with a reduced risk of dyslipidaemia. Using a human faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), we compared changes in gut microbiota and lipid profiles in mice transplanted with human faeces from HBV-infected and non-infected individuals.
Approach And Results:
A total of 19 mice received human FMT from four HBV-infected individuals and were categorised into the HBV-positive mice group, while 20 mice received FMT from four HBV-non-infected individuals into the HBV-negative one. In the analysis of gut microbiota in FMT mice, we observed a robust increase in alpha diversity and abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila in HBV-positive mice, compared to that in HBV-negative. Functional inference analysis revealed that the pathways involved in glycerolipid metabolism were more enriched in HBV-positive mice. At 5 weeks of FMT, the reduced triglyceride (TG) level was predominantly observed in HBV-positive mice.
Conclusions:
Altered gut microbiota accompanied by HBV infection was associated with a robust increase in alpha diversity and butyrate producers, which resulted in a reduced level of TG at 5 weeks post-FMT. This indicates that the reduced risk of dyslipidaemia in chronic HBV infection may be due to the altered gut microbiota accompanied by HBV infection.
