Decreased Diversity of the Oral Microbiota of Patients with Hepatitis B Virus-Induced Chronic Liver Disease: A Pilot Project

Increasing evidence suggests that altered gut microbiota is implicated in the pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus-induced chronic liver disease (HBV-CLD). However, the structure and composition of the oral microbiota of patients with HBV-CLD remains unclear. High-throughput pyrosequencing showed that decreased oral bacterial diversity was found in patients with HBV-CLD. The Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio was increased significantly, which indicated that dysbiosis of the oral microbiota participated in the process of HBV-CLD development. However, the changing patterns of the oral microbiota in patients with HBV-induced liver cirrhosis (LC) were almost similar to patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). HBV infection resulted in an increase in potential H2S- and CH3SH-producing phylotypes such as Fusobacterium, Filifactor, Eubacterium, Parvimonas and Treponema, which might contribute to the increased oral malodor. These key oral-derived phylotypes might invade into the gut as opportunistic pathogens and contribute to altering the composition of the gut microbiota. This study provided important clues that dysbiosis of the oral microbiota might be involved in the development of HBV-CLD. Greater understanding of the relationships between the dysbiosis of oral microbiota and the development of HBV-CLD might facilitate the development of non-invasive differential diagnostic procedures and targeted treatments of HBV-CLD patients harbouring specific oral phylotypes.