Table 2.

Select gut microbe-derived metabolites are altered in HCC patients compared to healthy controls. Circulating concentration of gut-derived metabolites in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma split by background liver morphology. Between-group means compared using binary logistic regression model with the Tukey-b adjustment for multiple testing.

	HCC (n = 41)	Healthy Control (n = 96)	p-Value
Choline	18.10 (8.54)	8.49 (2.75)	<0.001
Betaine	46.0 (14.5)	31.70 (14.1)	<0.001
Carnitine	29.5 (9.2)	25.60 (6.2)	0.007
g-butyrobetaine	0.75 (0.33)	0.67 (0.22)	0.029
5-OH-indole acetic acid	0.064 (0.025)	0.033 (0.010)	<0.001
Hippuric acid	9.61 (12.2)	6.27 (5.65)	0.124
4-OH-hippuric acid	0.89 (0.037)	0.40 (1.68)	0.106
3-OH-hippuric acid	0.84 (0.98)	0.36 (1.48)	<0.001
2-OH-hippuric acid	1.09 (1.32)	0.43 (1.91)	0.108
Indole-3-propionic acid	0.63 (0.83)	1.03 (1.08)	0.028
Methyl-indole-acetic acid	0.18 (0.23)	0.29 (0.30)	0.030
Indole-lactic acid	1.06 (0.36)	0.91 (0.42)	0.038
Phenylacetic acid	2.59 (1.19)	2.36 (0.68)	0.105
4-OH-Phenyllactic acid	1.41 (0.70)	0.625 (0.36)	<0.001
p-Cresol glucuronide	26.9 (28.1)	15.8 (20.3)	0.032
Tryptophan	86.7 (22.3)	94.9 (20.7)	0.056
Serotonin	0.015 (0.014)	0.18 (0.15)	<0.001
Indole-acetic acid	1.79 (1.22)	1.58 (0.81)	0.177
Phenol Sulfate	4.69 (7.09)	3.94 (4.66)	0.508
Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO)	7.11 (7.72)	3.99 (3.26)	<0.001
Phenylacetylglutamine (PAG)	3.66 (3.73)	2.11 (1.50)	0.002
Indoxyl sulfate	3.80 (3.65)	4.03 (2.20)	0.748
p-Cresol sulfate	30.7 (23.9)	24.70 (19.0)	0.224
Phenylacetylglycine (PAGLY)	0.011 (0.014)	0.0096 (0.0064)	0.281
4-ethylphenyl sulfate (4-EPS)	0.88 (2.33)	1.25 (3.78)	0.487
Trimethylamine (TMA)	3.30 (2.42)	1.17 (1.38)	<0.001