{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T06:30:03Z","timestamp":1791613803068,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,6]],"date-time":"2025-10-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759708800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study aimed to identify distinct intestinal microbiota associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to construct a predictive model for HCC.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A case-control study was conducted including patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), liver cirrhosis (LC), HCC, and healthy controls (HC). Fecal 16S rDNA sequences were analyzed using bioinformatics approaches. Specific intestinal microbiota were identified through stratified analysis, and a predictive model was subsequently constructed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 152 subjects were enrolled, including CHB (n = 33), LC (n = 59; 25 compensated cirrhosis, CC; 34 decompensated cirrhosis, DC), HCC (n = 30; 5 CHB-HCC, 9 CC-HCC, and 16 DC-HCC), and HC (n = 30). A significant overall difference in alpha diversity was observed across the groups (Chao1: P = 0.010,\u03f5\u00b2= 0.056; ACE: P = 0.016,\u03f5\u00b2= 0.049). In the CHB-HCC, CC-HCC, and DC-HCC groups, the abundance of <jats:italic>Bacteroides<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Prevotella<\/jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>Faecalibacterium<\/jats:italic> gradually decreased, whereas <jats:italic>Klebsiella<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Haemophilus<\/jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>Streptococcus<\/jats:italic> increased. Comparison of CHB vs. CHB-HCC, CC vs. CC-HCC, and DC vs. DC-HCC revealed consistent microbial shifts across disease stages. In particular, <jats:italic>Roseburia<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Veillonella<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Megasphaera<\/jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>Paraprevotella<\/jats:italic> were increased irrespective of liver disease stage. By combining microbiota profiles with clinical indicators, we developed a predictive nomogram that achieved an AUC of 0.865 in the training cohort and 0.848 in the external validation cohort.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Intestinal microbiota were associated not only with liver disease stage but also with the occurrence of HCC itself. Characteristic microbiota may serve as effective biomarkers for predicting HCC.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2025.1674838","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,6]],"date-time":"2025-10-06T05:21:39Z","timestamp":1759728099000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Featured intestinal microbiota associated with hepatocellular carcinoma in various liver disease 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