Intestinal microbial community of gallstone subjects

Gallstone disease (GD), also known as cholelithiasis, is a common disease which can stimulate the gallbladder mucosa and result in the acute/chronic cholecystitis or even the gallbladder carcinoma. Nowadays, the prevalence of GD still keeps a continuously rising tendency. However, the process of gallstone 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. The aim of this study is to figure out the composition and function of the intestinal microbiota in patients with GD. The results of our research revealed that the intestinal tract of GD patients harbored a particular microbial community. By comparison with the healthy individuals, we discovered the differential intestinal microbes and their functions in cholelithiasis subjects. Our study broaden the insight into the potential mechanism of how intestinal microbes affect the progression of gallstone to some extent. Meanwhile, our study also provide potential targets for prevention, diagnosis or treatment of GD.