Heightened gut microbiome signatures may indicate cardiovascular disease risk in older patients
Researchers have discovered gut microbiome signatures related to aging and metabolism that may modulate the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to a study published in Nature Medicine.
In the study, the researchers used 21 metabolic parameters to categorize 10,207 patients aged 40 to 93 years into five metabolic multimorbidity clusters defined by their metabolic subphenotypes.
They found that compared with the patients in the metabolically healthy cluster, those in the obesity-related mixed cluster and those in the hyperglycemia cluster were a respective 75% and 117% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease within about 10 years.
The researchers analyzed 4,491 shotgun fecal metagenomes and revealed that the gut microbial composition correlated with the patients’ metabolic multimorbidity clusters and age. Based on this data, they then used 55 age-specific microbial species to create a gut microbial age metric and validate it in 4,425 metagenomic samples from four external cohorts. The researchers uncovered an association between an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and high gut microbial age among patients aged 60 years and older in the obesity-related mixed cluster and the hyperglycemia cluster. However, a low gut microbial age appeared to reduce the risk.
The researchers hope their findings can lead to the development of novel personalized interventions to improve longevity.
Read more: Nature Medicine
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