Faecal microbiota profiles as diagnostic biomarkers in primary sclerosing cholangitis

Dear Sir, Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a progressive disease of unknown aetiology. The presumed involvement of the gut–liver axis in disease pathogenesis1 has prompted investigations into mucosal2 and faecal intestinal microbiota composition, as has been reported by Kummen et al 3 in this journal. Microbiota as diagnostic biomarkers of disease are of interest from the clinician’s point of view and Kummen et al 3 have suggested a panel of taxa and even a single genus ( Veillonella ) with a reasonable diagnostic accuracy differentiating PSC and healthy controls (HCs). We here report on a cohort study from northern Germany, using stool samples of 98 HC subjects, 73 patients with well-characterised PSC and 88 subjects with UC for 16S rDNA sequencing of the V1-V2 variable region. The PSC subgroup included 38 subjects with concomitant UC (PSC-UC). The data were subjected to quality control and operational taxonomic units (OTU) picking according to the methods described.3 Of the 12 taxa proposed to be differentially abundant in …