Dan WY, Yang YS, Peng LH, Sun G, Wang ZK. Gastrointestinal microbiome and cholelithiasis: Current status and perspectives. World J Gastroenterol 2023; 29(10): 1589-1601 [PMID: 36970590 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i10.1589]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Zi-Kai Wang, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Microbiota Division, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China. wangzikai301@126.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 14, 2023; 29(10): 1589-1601 Published online Mar 14, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i10.1589
Gastrointestinal microbiome and cholelithiasis: Current status and perspectives
Wan-Yue Dan, Yun-Sheng Yang, Li-Hua Peng, Gang Sun, Zi-Kai Wang
Wan-Yue Dan, Yun-Sheng Yang, Li-Hua Peng, Gang Sun, Zi-Kai Wang, Microbiota Division, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China
Wan-Yue Dan, Medical School, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
Author contributions: Wang ZK established the design and conception of the paper; Dan WY and Wang ZK searched the literature and drafted the first manuscript; Wang ZK, Peng LH, and Sun G checked the manuscript and critically revised the important intellectual content in this manuscript; Yang YS contributed to manuscript revision; all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zi-Kai Wang, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Microbiota Division, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China. wangzikai301@126.com
Received: December 28, 2022 Peer-review started: December 28, 2022 First decision: January 10, 2023 Revised: January 23, 2023 Accepted: March 6, 2023 Article in press: March 6, 2023 Published online: March 14, 2023 Processing time: 71 Days and 16 Hours
Abstract
Cholelithiasis is a common digestive disease affecting 10% to 15% of adults. It imposes significant global health and financial burdens. However, the pathogenesis of cholelithiasis involves several factors and is incompletely elucidated. In addition to genetic predisposition and hepatic hypersecretion, the pathogenesis of cholelithiasis might involve the gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome, consisting of microorganisms and their metabolites. High-throughput sequencing studies have elucidated the role of bile, gallstones, and the fecal microbiome in cholelithiasis, associating microbiota dysbiosis with gallstone formation. The GI microbiome may drive cholelithogenesis by regulating bile acid metabolism and related signaling pathways. This review examines the literature implicating the GI microbiome in cholelithiasis, specifically gallbladder stones, choledocholithiasis, and asymptomatic gallstones. We also discuss alterations of the GI microbiome and its influence on cholelithogenesis.
Core Tip: Cholelithiasis is a common digestive disease that imposes significant global health and financial burdens. High-throughput screening demonstrated the relationship between bile, gallstones, and the fecal microbiome in cholelithiasis and provided evidence that gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota dysbiosis is associated with gallstone formation. We summarize the current literature, pool the available cholelithiasis-related studies about the GI microbiome, discuss the underlying mechanisms by which the GI microbiome modulates cholelithiasis, and suggest potential microbiome-targeting therapeutics for cholelithiasis prevention.
