Table 3 Circulating levels of choline and its byproducts, betaine, ethanol, soluble TLR4, and primary and secondary bile acids in the obese group with liver histology

From: Circulating microbiota-derived metabolites: a “liquid biopsy?

Variable

NL (n = 29)

SS (n = 32)

NASH (n = 21)

p-value

Choline (µM)

15.85 (12.61–23.86)

20.85 (11.59–24.24)

21.30 (16.13–24.38)

0.418

TMA (nM)

31.68 (25.70–45.11)

40.45 (26.07–67.19)

46.84 (23.38–74.63)

0.341

TMAO (µM)

1.95 (1.03–2.90)

2.93 (1.84–5.95)b

2.48 (1.79–4.65)

0.031a

Betaine (µM)

25.63 (21.57–32.73)

26.05 (22.59–35.78)

27.57 (20.81–36.39)

0.866

Ethanol (ng/µl)

2.00 (0.53–6.13)

1.80 (0.81–3.73)

3.44 (2.31–9.80)c

0.133

TLR4 (ng/ml)

2.62 (1.83–3.05)

2.09 (1.18–3.26)

2.69 (1.67–3.56)

0.674

Short-chain fatty acids

Acetate (µM)

33.53 (20.90–50.67)

22.09 (13.00–34.87)

35.42 (14.26–48.02)

0.249

Propionate (µM)

2.65 (1.46–4.62)

2.69 (1.24–3.75)

3.08 (1.30–3.91)

0.702

Isobutyrate (µM)

0.33 (0.26–0.42)

0.32 (0.26–0.46)

0.34 (0.28–0.43)

0.983

Butyrate (µM)

0.58 (0.49–0.80)

0.69 (0.49–0.87)

0.63 (0.49–0.99)

0.625

Isovalerate (µM)

0.14 (0.08–0.20)

0.13 (0.08–0.21)

0.15 (0.08–0.20)

0.883

Primary bile acids

CDCA (nM)

29.91 (14.61–88.59)

48.20 (29.82–167.82)

25.76 (1375–177.88)

0.229

CA (nM)

21.60 (12.22–83.10)

40.90 (14.89–114.82)

30.49 (14.07–80.88)

0.431

GCDCA (nM)

126.88 (79.10–283.23)

154.86 (78.82–317.01)

111.07 (58.80–221.22)

0.559

GCA (nM)

50.33 (30.40–82.39)

95.83 (42.61–156.34)b

65.99 (47.62–99.10)

0.036a

TCA (nM)

10.09 (6.49–18.27)

16.86 (7.11–32.17)

9.61 (5.96–26.94)

0.375

TCDCA (nM)

52.36 (27.40–86.68)

47.13 (27.36–102.27)

37.17 (18.32–90.24)

0.784

Secondary bile acids

DCA (nM)

66.18 (34.75–109.96)

150.92 (76.61–302.18)b

114.98 (45.39–252.32)

0.014a

GDCA (nM)

40.10 (23.27–54.63)

58.21 (30.48–130.76)

39.55 (21.15–89.90)

0.158

LCA (nM)

13.81 (8.32–16.52)

12.78 (7.86–16.17)

16.43 (10.45–25.26)

0.247

UDCA (nM)

23.12 (8.72–83.45)

32.98 (25.08–63.92)

23.67 (8.39–86.97)

0.556

TLCA (nM)

1.16 (0.72–1.94)

1.22 (0.80–2.39)

1.21 (0.87–2.39)

0.872

TDCA (nM)

7.49 (4.53–23.46)

11.30 (6.54–34.10)

11.17 (4.53–29.85)

0.589

TUDCA (nM)

2.68 (1.79–7.63)

3.67 (1.86–4.71)

2.85 (1.42–5.72)

0.775

GLCA (nM)

15.94 (11.02–35.64)

22.52 (13.59–32.24)

24.60 (13.78–47.71)

0.557

GUDCA (nM)

242.11 (102.34–996.81)

389.49 (160.74–651.31)

201.64 (49.33–404.44)

0.328

  1. Data are expressed as the median (25th–75th percentile). p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant
  2. TMA trimethylamine, TMAO trimethylamine N-oxide, TLR4 toll-like receptor 4, CDCA chenodeoxycholic acid, CA cholic acid, GCDCA glycochenodeoxycholic acid, GCA glycocholic acid, TCA taurocholic acid, TCDCA taurochenodeoxycholic acid, DCA deoxycholic acid, GDCA glycodeoxycholic acid, LCA lithocholic acid, UDCA ursodeoxycholic acid, TLCA taurolithocholic acid, TDCA taurodeoxycholic acid, TUDCA tauroursodeoxycholic acid, GLCA glycolithocholic acid, GUDCA glycoursodeoxycholic acid
  3. aNL vs NAFLD: TMAO (p = 0.013), GCA (p = 0.022), DCA (p = 0.006)
  4. bNL vs SS: TMAO (p = 0.009), GCA (p = 0.016), DCA (p = 0.004)
  5. cSS vs NASH: ethanol (p = 0.045)
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