the microbial signatures of the CBD and duodenum in CBDS

Background Recurrence of common bile duct (CBD) stones is a common complication after endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST). Duodenal-biliary reflux is considered as a crucial mechanism of CBD stones recurrence after EST. However, changes of CBD microbiota or its metabolites and their relationship with the recurrence of CBD stones after EST remain poorly understood.Design CBD stones patients underwent ERCP were recruited and assigned into the initial group (n=33) and the recurrent group (n=17) after EST. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was utilized to analyse the microbial signatures of the CBD and duodenum. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to analyze bile acids (BAs) profiles. Spearman correlation analyses were used to explore the relationships between clinical characteristics with CBD microbiota and BAs. Furthermore, in vitro co-culture experiments were used to confirm the capacity of the CBD microbiota for BAs transformation.