Particularly noteworthy is the differential behavior of bilirubin-related pathways: while direct bilirubin showed extreme correlations with LPS biosynthesis and ABC transporters in non-HCC diabetic patients, DHCCs demonstrated more moderate associations with total bilirubin, suggesting distinct mechanisms of hepatic handling of bacterial products and transport functions in the presence of malignancy (Teng et al., 2023; Nikouei et al., 2024). Here, ABCG2 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.