Composition and diversity of gut microbiota in non-erosive reflux disease

Objective: Non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) is a prevalent gastrointestinal disorder with complex pathophysiology. Recent evidence suggests a potential role of gut microbiota in its development. This study aimed to characterize the gut microbiota in patients with NERD, and to explore microbial biomarkers for disease differentiation. Methods: We enrolled 40 patients with NERD, along with 18 healthy controls (HCs). Fecal samples were collected and analyzed using 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. Gut microbial diversity and composition, linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were evaluated. Results: for distinguishing NERD from HCs was 0.9333, indicating exceptionally high diagnostic power. Conclusion: showed extremely high diagnostic efficacy, which can be used as a microbial biomarker, and may serve as potential therapeutic target for NERD.