Bacterial overgrowth syndrome in patients with chronic diffuse liver diseases depending on the etiology and morphological features

Abstract

Background. Previous studies have shown an increased risk of liver disease in intestinal dysbiosis. Damage to the liver in itself can be the cause of the bacterial overgrowth syndrome. It has been proven that bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine can play a role in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease and complications associated with chronic hepatitis C. The purpose of the study was to assess the frequency of the small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) in patients with chronic diffuse liver diseases (CDLD), depending on the degree of steatosis, the stage of fibrosis, and the activity of the hepatic inflammatory process. Materials and methods. Twenty-seven patients were divided into 2 groups: I — 12 patients with chronic hepatitis associated with the virus C (HCV); II — 15 patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) depending on the etiology and progression of steatosis and liver fibrosis using histological methods, computer morphometry, transient elastometry and an indicator of the degree of steatosis CAP using the FibroScan 502. Bacterial overgrowth syndrome was determined using a glucose hydrogen breath test. Results. SIBO was found in 51.8 % of CDLD patients. In patients with ALD, it occurred significantly more often (60.0 %) than in HCV, among which only 41.7 % patients had SIBO. A predominance (70.0 %) of a positive hydrogen breath test was noted in the group with severe steatosis (S3), which significantly distinguished it from the group with initial manifestations of steatosis S1 (37.5 %). In patients with chronic hepatitis C with progressive steatosis, the number of cases of SIBO increases and, conversely, the majority of patients with ALD who had histologically confirmed microvesicular and small-drop fatty liver dystrophy during the hydrogen breath test showed microbiota disturbances in the small intestine. Conclusions. There is a correlation between the indicators of the hydrogen breath test and the histological activity index, histological indicators of the progression of liver steatosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Thus, with an increase in the activity of the inflammatory process (9 points) and the degree of liver steatosis (S3), the severity of microbiota disturbances in the small intestine increases (> 20 ppm). The degree of SIBO in HCV reflects the severity of the inflammatory process in the liver.

Keywords

• bacterial overgrowth syndrome
• alcoholic liver di­sease, chronic hepatitis c
• liver steatosis, liver fibrosis