Gender-Stratified Gut Dysbiosis Patterns in HCC Patients: A Cross-Sectional Microbiome Study | ||
| Records of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences | ||
| Volume 9, Issue 2, March 2025, Pages 110-120 PDF (944.88 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/rpbs.2025.403562.1388 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Tasnem Yehia1; Marwa M Azab2; Ali Abdellah3; Ibrahim A Amin4; Mohammed Ramadan* 5 | ||
| 1Pharmacist | ||
| 2Microbiology and Immunology, Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Suez Canal University, Ismaillia 41522, Egypt | ||
| 3Department of microbiology and immunology, faculty of pharmacy, suez canal university | ||
| 4Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Assiut 71524, Egypt | ||
| 5Behind Thawra School Sharkia Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exhibits significant sex disparities, with males demonstrating a higher incidence. While hepatitis C virus (HCV) drives hepatocarcinogenesis and the gut microbiome influences liver disease progression, Sex-specific microbiome signatures in HCC remain underexplored. Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed 36 participants stratified by sex and disease status: male controls (MC, n=9), male with HCC (MHCC, n=9), female controls (FC, n=9), and female with HCC (FHCC, n=9). Stool samples underwent 16S rRNA sequencing (V3-V4 regions). Results: Profound sex-specific dysbiosis emerged: MHCC patients showed significant enrichment of pro-inflammatory Proteobacteria (Succinivibrio), correlating with coagulopathy (INR: r= 0.62) and thrombocytopenia (r= –0.61), while FHCC exhibited depletion of commensal Prevotella_9 and enrichment of estrogen-associated Eggerthella, linked to hyperbilirubinemia (r= 0.54) and extreme AFP elevation (r= 0.49). Alpha diversity loss was universal but more severe in males (Shannon index, padj= 0.008). Machine learning identified Lachnospiraceae_ND3007_group (male AUC = 0.81) and Eggerthella (female) as top discriminators. Conclusion: Sex-stratified dysbiosis patterns reveal distinct HCC pathogenesis, inflammatory (Proteobacteria-driven) in males and metabolic (Eggerthella-mediated) in females. These signatures provide novel biomarkers for personalized risk stratification in HCV-associated HCC. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Hepatocellular carcinoma; gut microbiome; Sex disparities | ||
|
Statistics Article View: 32 PDF Download: 8 |
||
