{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ScholarlyArticle","headline":"Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction‐Based Fecal\n Streptococcus\n Quantification for Liver Fibrosis Assessment in Chronic Liver Disease","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nomura Nao"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Haruki Uojima"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Akira Také"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Iida Junki"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Shuichiro Iwasaki"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Kazue Horio"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Yoshihiko Sakaguchi"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Kazuyoshi Gotoh"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Takashi Satoh"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Hisashi Hidaka"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Yasuhito Tanaka"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Shunji Hayashi"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Chika Kusano"}],"datePublished":"2025","isPartOf":{"@type":"Periodical","name":"Hepatology research : the official journal of the Japan Society of Hepatology"},"identifier":"https://doi.org/10.1111/hepr.70079","description":"ABSTRACT\n \n Aim\n \n The aim of this study was to identify clinical factors associated with fecal\n Streptococcus\n spp. load in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) and to evaluate its potential utility, measured through digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR), as a noninvasive biomarker for liver fibrosis.\n \n \n \n Methods\n \n Data from 146 patients with CLD enrolled in a prospective single‐center cohort were retrospectively analyzed. Fecal\n Streptococcus\n spp. load was quantified using dPCR with a 16S rRNA gene primer–probe set. Given the substantial effect of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use, PPI users were analyzed separately and excluded from fibrosis‐specific analyses. Associations with clinical parameters were examined using Spearman's rank correlation, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was carried out to evaluate diagnostic performance for cirrhosis.\n \n \n \n Results\n \n Among 146 patients, 45 (30.8%) were PPI users and 101 (69.2%) were nonusers. Median\n Streptococcus\n spp. load was significantly higher in PPI users than in nonusers (470.8 vs. 107.8 copies/μL and\n p\n < 0.001). In nonusers, cirrhotic patients had higher loads than noncirrhotic patients (276.8 vs. 43.6 copies/μL and\n p\n < 0.001). ROC analysis yielded an area under the curve of 0.728 (cutoff: 28.5 copies/μL; sensitivity 71.4% and specificity 71.4%), which was lower than that of liver stiffness and the Fibrosis‐4 index.\n Streptococcus\n spp. load correlated positively with age and negatively with body mass index (BMI). Patients aged > 65 years with BMI ≤ 25 kg/m\n 2\n showed higher loads.\n \n \n \n Conclusions\n \n Fecal\n Streptococcus\n spp. load measured by dPCR may complement existing noninvasive fibrosis markers in CLD, although host‐related factors, such as age and BMI, may limit diagnostic accuracy.\n \n ","url":"https://innscience.ca/en/community/literature/dd378041-6876-480d-bd74-fd987725d207"}