Understanding the etiology of human gallstone disease via microbiome analysis of patients from Colombia and in silico mining of global data

Despite the high worldwide prevalence of gallstone disease, the role of the biliary microbiota in gallstone pathogenesis remains obscure. Next-generation sequencing offers advantages for systematically understanding the human microbiota. Whole-metagenome shotgun (WMS) sequencing and 16S rRNA sequencing on bile samples, such as described, should contribute to characterizing and understanding microbiological component(s) of the etiology of gallstone disease, and to its treatment and prevention.