Intestinal microbiome of gallstone patients

Gallstone disease is a significant health problem worldwide. It can result in pancreatitis, cholangitis and even gallbladder carcinoma. Nowadays, the prevalence of gallstone disease kept a continuously rising tendency. However, the process of gallstones formation still remains unclear. The microecosystem of the human intestinal tract has been reported to participate in regulating the biological metabolism in human bodies. In recent years, some researches have suggested intestinal microbes might play an important role in gallstone pathogenesis, but few of them laid emphasis on the detailed function of those differential microbiota. In this study, the metagenomic sequencing was used to analyze the diversity and functions of the intestinal microbiota in patients with gallstone disease. The results of our research revealed that the intestinal tract of cholelithiasis patients harbored a particular microbial community. By comparison with the healthy individuals, we discovered the differential intestinal microbes and the corresponding functions in cholelithiasis subjects. Our study broaden the insight into the potential mechanism of how intestinal microbes affect the progression of gallstones to some extent. Meanwhile, our study also provide potential targets for prevention, diagnosis or treatment of gallstone disease.