Gut microbiome of a porcine model of metabolic syndrome and HF-pEF

摘要

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), a cluster of metabolic disorders leading to downstream cardiovascular complications, including atherosclerosis, diastolic heart failure, and atrial fibrillation, is the fastest growing human disease with significant global implications for morbidity and mortality (91). There is emerging scientific data to support a role for the gut microbiome in many aspects of MetS, including obesity, hypeiiipidemia, and insulin resistance in human subjects (83). Obesity is a risk factor for heart disease, and recent studies have shown that obese individuals exhibit a significantly discordant gut microbiome compared with lean individuals (41). More than half of all patients with heart failure retain a preserved ejection fraction, a form of the disease that is associated with metabolic syndrome and for which there are no specific therapies at present. Clearly there is a need for new insights into the mechanisms underlying this disease, and gut microbiome research offers one avenue of investigation.