Intestinal microbiota as a factor in the progression of periductal fibrosis and the development of cholangiocacinoma

According to official medical statistics, malignant neoplasms of the hepatobiliary system are annually among the ten most common and lethal tumors in most countries of the world due to their aggressiveness, absence of specific symptoms, long-term asymptomatic course and methods of preclinical diagnosis, resistance to therapy. Сholangiocarcinoma (CCA) - is a multifactorial disease, the development of which involves genetic, infectious, environmental, epidemiological risk factors. Recently the hospital-based case-control study results revealed a strong significantly increased risk for CCA development in Opisthorchis felineus - infected individuals.

The aim of the study - to establish the importance of the intestinal microbiota in the carcinogenesis of CCA in Opisthorchis felineus - infected individuals. We conducted a case-control study and recruited patients with CCA (n=30), Opisthorchis felineus - infected individuals (n=30), Opisthorchis felineus - infected individuals with periductal fibrosis (n=30) and controls (n=27). A total of 117 adult participants aged between 40 and 75 years were enrolled to the study. The study procedures included physical examination and ultrasound of the liver and bile ducts for each participant, stool microscopy and parasite eggs detection, an assessment of the intestinal microbiota by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of stool samples.

Comparative analysis showed changes in the representation of a number of microorganisms at different taxonomic levels, including a higher content of Bacteroides and Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group in patients with CCA. Bacteria that influence the change in the global balance of microorganisms in samples for patients with CCA ([Ruminococcus]_torques_group, Subdoligranulum, Parasutterella, unclassified Firmicutes) and controls (Oscillospiraceae and Erysipelotrichaceae UCG-006) were also identified.

Study results based on the bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology, demonstrated the taxonomic composition of the intestinal microbiota and its contribution to the development of periductal fibrosis and CCA in patients with O. felineus infection.

The dataset contains the demographic data, clinical data (including symptoms, ultrasound examination of the liver and bile ducts), raw 16S amplicon sequencing paired-end data in FASTQ format for the corresponding RNA-seq libraries sequenced at a low depth on the Illumina MiSeq platform.