Gut microbiome in cirrhotic hepatitis C virus patients with and without hepatocellular carcinoma

Egyptian Liver Journal

Table 2 Comparison between the three studied groups according to Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio, Prevotella to Bacteroides (P/B) ratio, diversity index, and dissimilarity index (%)

	HCC (n = 25)	Cirrhosis (n = 25)	Control (n = 25)	Test	p
F/B ratio
Min.-max.	0.018-3.715	0.020-10.550	0.350-2.470	H = 15.699*	< 0.001*
Mean ± SD	0.799 ± 0.970	1.229 ± 2.562	1.312 ± 0.669
Median (IQR)	0.465 (0.207-0.769)	0.260 (0.100-0.600)	1.310 (0.710-1.870)
Significance between groups	p₁ = 0.337, p₂ = 0.004, p₃ < 0.001
P/B ratio
Min.-max.	0.000-2.205	0.000-8.300	0.010-4.490	H = 14.111*	0.001*
Mean ± SD	0.303 ± 0.643	1.519 ± 2.270	0.992 ± 1.236
Median (IQR)	0.012 (0.001-0.195)	0.710 (0.090-1.590)	0.510 (0.170-1.400)
Significance between. groups	p₁ = 0.001, p₂ = 0.001, p₃ = 0.953
Diversity index
Min.-max.	0.75-1.68	0.22-1.70	1.14-1.70	F = 12.789*	< 0.001*
Mean ± SD	1.25 ± 0.27	1.18 ± 0.33	1.53 ± 0.12
Median (IQR)	1.31 (1.06-1.45)	1.23 (0.98-1.36)	1.56 (1.48-1.60)
Significance between. groups	p₁ = 0.611, p₂ = 0.001, p₃ < 0.001
Dissimilarity index (%)
Min.-max.	24.0-85.0	17.0-93.0	0.0-0.0	F = 101.434*	< 0.001*
Mean ± SD	41.44 ± 13.37	43.64 ± 16.38	0.0 ± 0.0
Median (IQR)	39.0 (32.0-47.0)	40.0 (35.0-48.0)	0.0 (–)
Significance between groups	p₁ = 0.800, p₂ < 0.001, p₃ < 0.001

IQR, inter quartile range; SD, standard deviation; H, H for Kruskal-Wallis test, pairwise comparison between each 2 groups was done using post hoc test (Dunn’s for multiple comparisons test); F, F for ANOVA test, pairwise comparison bet. each 2 groups was done using post hoc test (Tukey); p, p value for comparing between the studied groups; p₁, p value for comparing between HCC and cirrhosis; p₂, p value for comparing between HCC and control; p₃, p value for comparing between cirrhosis and control
*Statistically significant at p ≤ 0.05