Before the onset of cardiovascular disease symptoms, people often develop dyslipidemia, or abnormal levels of lipids in the blood. Recent studies suggest that microbes in the gut play an important role in how the body produces, regulates and degrades lipids, but the connection isn’t clear.
Microbiologists in Seoul advance scientists’ understanding of that relationship by identifying microbial taxa more likely to be found in people with dyslipidemia than in people with healthy levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. Notably, they reported a distinct difference in the structure of gut microbial communities between the two groups.
For the study, published in Microbiology Spectrum, researchers compared fecal and blood samples from 1,384 participants, 895 of whom had dyslipidemia. They used shotgun metagenomic sequencing to identify bacterial taxa and infer metabolic pathways from microbial genes.
The results revealed higher levels of Bacteroides caccae among participants with dyslipidemia. In prior studies, this bacterium has been associated with inflammatory and metabolic processes. In people not diagnosed with dyslipidemia, the researchers also found a higher prevalence of Coprococcus eutactus and Coprococcus catus, bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids—which have shown anti-inflammatory effects, among other health benefits.
The researchers noted that rather than identifying individual bacteria as therapeutic species, the findings point to the need for an overall ecological balance of the gut microbial community.
“Future translational efforts should focus on restoring functional balance at the community level,” she said, “rather than targeting one organism in isolation.”
Work that builds on these findings could focus on restoring functional balance at the community level rather than targeting one organism in isolation. Additionally, further research should be done on specific strategies that help people maintain or restore the microbial functions connected to lipid and metabolic balance.
Data from American Society for Microbiology