Presepsin as a biomarker of bacterial translocation and an indicator for the prescription of probiotics in cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND

The gut-liver axis and bacterial translocation are important in cirrhosis, but there is no available universal biomarker of cellular bacterial translocation, for which presepsin may be a candidate.

AIM

To evaluate the relationship of the blood presepsin levels with the state of the gut microbiota in cirrhosis in the absence of obvious infection.

METHODS

This study included 48 patients with Child-Pugh cirrhosis classes B and C and 15 healthy controls. The fecal microbiome was assessed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Plasma levels of presepsin were measured. A total of 22 patients received a probiotic (

RESULTS

Presepsin levels were higher in patients with cirrhosis than in healthy individuals [342 (91-2875)

CONCLUSION

The level of presepsin directly correlates with the abundance in the gut microbiota of the main taxa that are substrates of bacterial translocation in cirrhosis. This biomarker, in the absence of obvious infection, seems important for assessing the state of the gut-liver axis in cirrhosis and deciding on therapy targeted at the gut microbiota in this disease.

Informations de copyright

©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflicts of interest.