Bifidobacterium Longum Promotes Postoperative Liver Function Recovery in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Timely liver function recovery (LFR) is crucial for postoperative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Here, we first established the significance of the LFR on the patients' long-term survival using both retrospective (n=928, p=0.03) and prospective cohorts (n=123, p=0.04) respectively, and identified a key gut microbe Bifidobacterium longum depleted in the delayed recovery (DR) patients. We validated the pro-recovery effects of B. longum in a liver- hepatectomy mouse model and a clinical trial consisting of 176 participants through oral administration. We significantly decreased the DR rate from 33% to 11% (p<0.001) and shortened the hospital stay (p=0.02), which might attribute to the increased 5-hydroxytryptamine, secondary bile acids, and short-chain fatty acids in the intervention group, according to multi-omics analysis. Our results provide a promising strategy for modulating gut microbiota to enhance the LFR, thus improving the postoperative outcomes in HCC patients and decreasing the medical burdens.