The gut microbiota, bile acids and their correlation in primary sclerosing cholangitis associated with inflammatory bowel disease:

BackgroundPatients with primary sclerosing cholangitis associated with inflammatory bowel disease (PSC-IBD) have a very high risk of developing colorectal neoplasia. Alterations in the gut microbiota and/or gut bile acids could account for the increase in this risk. However, no studies have yet investigated the net result of cholestasis and a potentially altered bile acid pool interacting with a dysbiotic gut flora in the inflamed colon of PSC-IBD.AimThe aim of this study was to compare the gut microbiota and stool bile acid profiles, as well as and their correlation in patients with PSC-IBD and inflammatory bowel disease alone.MethodsThirty patients with extensive colitis (15 with concomitant primary sclerosing cholangitis) were prospectively recruited and fresh stool samples were collected. The microbiota composition in stool was profiled using bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing. Stool bile acids were assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.ResultsThe total stool bile acid...