Integrated Metagenomics and Metabolomics Studies Reveal Core Bacterial Guild Regulating Carbohydrate Metabolism in Pediatric MASLD

Background Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a prevalent pediatric disorder with limited treatment options, primarily due to an incomplete understanding of its molecular drivers. Recent research underscores the role of microbial guilds in metabolic health, but the mechanisms by which dysbiosis driven by core species and co-abundant symbionts disrupt metabolic homeostasis in pediatric MASLD remain unclear.

Here, we conducted integrated metagenomic and metabolomic analyses on 285 pediatric subjects including MASLD patients, obese and healthy controls. The gut dysbiosis in MASLD was characterized by a depletion of Phocaeicola vulgatus, Bacteroides uniformis, Parabacteroides distasonis, and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Co-abundance network analysis, integrating our cohort with four public datasets, identified these species as core guild members associated with MASLD. Microbial enrichment analysis showed significant disruptions in carbohydrate metabolism, particularly the downregulation of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, fructose and sucrose metabolism, and pentose and glucuronate interconversions. P. vulgatus and B. uniformis were identified as dominant species linked to the downregulation of KEGG orthologs (KOs) in these disrupted pathways that were inversely correlated with hepatic injury biomarkers. CAZyme database analysis further emphasized P. vulgatus as the primary contributor to glycoside hydrolases involved in monosaccharide utilization. Finally, both untargeted and targeted metabolomics analysis validated a disrupted metabolic network centered on the TCA cycle and monosaccharide metabolism in pediatric MASLD.

Our findings suggest the core guild species P. vulgatus and B. uniformis may serve as critical regulators of carbohydrate metabolism in pediatric MASLD, offering potential mechanistic targets for gut microbiome-based interventions. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.