We write in response to the Letter to the Editor by van den Berg et al 1 commenting on our recent article ‘Gut microbiota predicts severity and reveals novel metabolic signatures in acute pancreatitis’.2 We greatly appreciate the interest in our work and are grateful to clarify some aspects of the study.

The primary endpoint of our study investigated whether microbial compositions can be employed as early predictors for severity of acute pancreatitis (AP). Patients with revised Atlanta classification III (RAC III) showed highly significant microbial differences compared with RAC I and RAC II. Further analysis revealed a higher abundance of species that are known producers of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in severe AP. Van den Berg et al mention the lack of a healthy control cohort, however, it is already known from previous studies that the microbial composition in stool samples of patients with AP is different from healthy controls in the early phase of AP.3

Our …