{ "abstract": "Background & aims\n\nYAQ001 is a novel, non-absorbable, gut-restricted, multiporous, carbon bead adsorbent. Pre-clinical studies and a clinical trial suggested its therapeutic potential and safety in patients with cirrhosis. This substudy aimed to explore the effects of YAQ001 on the gut microbiome and their exploratory association with biomarkers of gut permeability and systemic inflammation.Methods\n\nTwenty-eight-patients with cirrhosis were randomized (double-blind) to receive YAQ001 (4 g once daily) or placebo. Gut microbiome and biomarkers of inflammation and gut permeability were assessed at baseline, after 4 and 12 weeks. Changes in biomarkers and relationship with microbiome composition and gene profiling were assessed. The effect of YAQ001 on Klebsiella pneumoniae biofilms was assessed in vitro.Results\n\nOverall alpha and beta diversity remained unaltered. YAQ001 increased the abundance of bacteria associated with improved gut health such as Adlercreutzia equolifaciens, a bacterium commonly depleted in liver disease, and decreased the abundance of bacteria associated with infections and poor outcomes such as Klebsiella pneumonia, and Streptococcus mutans. YAQ001 impacted positively on virulence factors such as siderophores, fimbriae structures, and lipopolysaccharides that are associated with inflammation and invasion. Antibiotic resistance genes decreased significantly in the YAQ001 group. These changes were associated with a reduction in markers of gut permeability and systemic inflammation. YAQ001 prevented K. pneumoniae biofilms in vitro.Conclusion\n\nYAQ001 was associated with favourable compositional shifts and trends towards reduced virulence-related gene signatures in the gut microbiome, alongside trends towards improved inflammatory biomarkers. The in vitro anti-biofilm effect of YAQ001 warrants further mechanistic investigation. The findings position YAQ001 as a potential microbiome therapeutic.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Liver Failure Group, UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, London, UK.", "Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, China.", "Centre for Host-Microbiome Interactions, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.", "Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), Barcelona, Spain.", "Division of Medicine, Department of Renal Medicine, University College London, London, UK.", "Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.", "IRYCIS, CIBEREHD, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.", "School of Applied Sciences, Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Devices, University of Brighton, Brighton, East Sussex, UK.", "Advanced Cell Therapy Manufacturing (GMP) Unit, Clinical Research Facility, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, Guy's Hospital, London, UK.", "Liver Unit, CIBERehd, Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Universitat Autónoma, Barcelona, Spain.", "Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.", "Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland.", "Symbiosis Centre for Stem Cell Research (SCSCR), Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences (SSBS), Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India.", "Yaqrit Discovery Limited, Ledbury, UK.", "Section of Nutrition, Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.", "Kings College Hospital, London, UK.", "Liver Unit, IDIBAPS, CIBEReHD, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.", "Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.", "Rarity Discovery Limited, Ledbury, UK.", "Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College, London, UK.", "Tissue Access for Patient Benefit, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK.", "Centre for Host Microbiome Interactions, King's College London, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Guy's Tower, Guy's Hospital, London, UK.", "Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies, School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, Foundation for Liver Research, King's College Hospital, London, UK.", "Clínica Universitária de Gastrenterologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.", "Hepatology and Liver Intensive Care, Hospital Beaujon, Clichy, University Paris Cité, Paris, France.", "DataRUs, Barcelona, Spain.", "BCCC-Fundació Món Clínic, Barcelona, Spain.", "European Foundation for the Study of Chronic Liver Failure (EF Clif), Barcelona, Spain.", "UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, London, UK.", "Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London, St Mary's Hospital, London, UK.", "Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (IRYCIS), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Hospital Universitario Ramon y Cajal, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain." ], "article_type": "research article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 55, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0, 1 ], "name": "Jinxia Liu", "orcid": "0000-0001-8327-2228" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Fernando Garcia-Guevara" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Jane Macnaughtan", "orcid": "0000-0003-1211-9298" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Yi Jin", "orcid": "0009-0005-6284-6495" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Ainhoa Ferret-Miñana", "orcid": "0000-0002-2254-2746" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Frederick Clasen" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Nicholas Yuen", "orcid": "0009-0001-9712-010X" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Ramón Garcia Maset" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Javier Ramón-Azcón", "orcid": "0000-0002-3636-8013" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Annarein J C Kerbert" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Theo Portlock", "orcid": "0000-0001-5971-3847" }, { "affs": [ 6 ], "name": "Javier Martinez" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Abeba Habtesion" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Alexandra Phillips", "orcid": "0000-0001-6168-2306" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Francesco De Chiara", "orcid": "0000-0003-1537-1456" }, { "affs": [ 7, 8 ], "name": "Ganesh Ingavle" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Tom Baldwin", "orcid": "0009-0001-4368-5615" }, { "affs": [ 9 ], "name": "Cesar Jimenez", "orcid": "0000-0003-2455-2048" }, { "affs": [ 10 ], "name": "Giacomo Zaccherini", "orcid": "0000-0002-3219-6963" }, { "affs": [ 11 ], "name": "Katherine Husi" }, { "affs": [ 6 ], "name": "Miguel Rodriguez-Gandia", "orcid": "0000-0002-4065-168X" }, { "affs": [ 12 ], "name": "Paul Cordero-Sanchez" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Junpei Soeda" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Jude A Oben", "orcid": "0000-0003-3350-8356" }, { "affs": [ 13 ], "name": "Karen Church" }, { "affs": [ 14 ], "name": "Jia V Li", "orcid": "0000-0002-5763-6670" }, { "affs": [ 15 ], "name": "Aarti Jalan" }, { "affs": [ 16 ], "name": "Adria Juanola" }, { "affs": [ 16 ], "name": "Elsa Sola", "orcid": "0000-0001-6897-2760" }, { "affs": [ 17 ], "name": "Simon Eaton", "orcid": "0000-0003-0892-9204" }, { "affs": [ 18 ], "name": "Carrie Morgan" }, { "affs": [ 18 ], "name": "Thomas Avery" }, { "affs": [ 18 ], "name": "Michal Kowalski" }, { "affs": [ 19 ], "name": "Daniel Green", "orcid": "0000-0002-5467-3804" }, { "affs": [ 20 ], "name": "Amir Gander" }, { "affs": [ 21 ], "name": "Lindsey Ann Edwards", "orcid": "0000-0002-8222-4555" }, { "affs": [ 22 ], "name": "I Jane Cox", "orcid": "0000-0002-9828-7235" }, { "affs": [ 23 ], "name": "Helena Cortez-Pinto", "orcid": "0000-0002-8537-8744" }, { "affs": [ 11 ], "name": "Reiner Wiest" }, { "affs": [ 24 ], "name": "Francois Durand", "orcid": "0000-0002-0357-1090" }, { "affs": [ 10 ], "name": "Paolo Caraceni", "orcid": "0000-0002-1439-056X" }, { "affs": [ 25 ], "name": "Roberto Elosua" }, { "affs": [ 25 ], "name": "Joan Vila" }, { "affs": [ 26 ], "name": "Marco Pavesi" }, { "affs": [ 27 ], "name": "Vicente Arroyo" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Nathan Davies", "orcid": "0000-0003-1625-9204" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Rajeshwar P Mookerjee", "orcid": "0000-0002-6275-9384" }, { "affs": [ 7 ], "name": "Susan Sandeman", "orcid": "0000-0001-8367-2758" }, { "affs": [ 28 ], "name": "Gautam Mehta", "orcid": "0000-0002-5696-359X" }, { "affs": [ 29 ], "name": "Julian R Marchesi", "orcid": "0000-0002-7994-5239" }, { "affs": [ 30 ], "name": "Agustin Albillos", "orcid": "0000-0001-9131-2592" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Jennifer L Rohn", "orcid": "0000-0001-8766-6056" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Fausto Andreola" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Saeed Shoaie", "orcid": "0000-0001-5834-4533" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Rajiv Jalan", "orcid": "0000-0002-7747-4015" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/51y1zb60kqdae.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1111/liv.70933", "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13686283", "id": "51y1zb60kqdae", "issns": [ "1478-3223", "1478-3231" ], "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42905905", "language": "eng", "licence": "CC-BY", "licence_label": "CC BY", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "openalex", "1312|Gut microbiota and health" ] ], "openalex": "W7223155506", "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13686283?pdf=render", "pmcid": "PMC13686283", "pmid": "42905905", "published": "2026-10-30", "publisher": null, "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/51y1zb60kqdae.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z", "native_id": "MED:42905905", "source": "europepmc", "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42905905" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "biochemistry", "origin": "openalex:1312|Gut microbiota and health", "subfield": "molecular-biology" } ], "title": "Impact of YAQ001 on the Gut Microbiome, Permeability and Markers of Systemic Inflammation in Patients With Cirrhosis.", "title_text": "Impact of YAQ001 on the Gut Microbiome, Permeability and Markers of Systemic Inflammation in Patients With Cirrhosis.", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/51y1zb60kqdae", "venue": "Liver international : official journal of the International Association for the Study of the Liver", "versions": [] }