Abstract
Despite knowledge of classical coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors, the morbidity and mortality associated with this disease remain high. Therefore, new factors that may affect the development of CAD, such as the gut microbiome, are extensively investigated. This study aimed to evaluate gut microbiome composition in CAD patients in relation to the control group. We examined 169 CAD patients and 166 people in the control group, without CAD, matched in terms of age and sex to the study group. Both populations underwent a detailed health assessment. The microbiome analysis was based on the V3–V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene (NGS method). Among 4074 identified taxonomic units in the whole population, 1070 differed between study groups. The most common bacterial types were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. Furthermore, a higher Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in the CAD group compared with the control was demonstrated. Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, independent of age, sex, CAD status, LDL cholesterol concentration, and statins treatment, was related to altered phosphatidylcholine concentrations obtained in targeted metabolomics. Altered alpha-biodiversity (Kruskal–Wallis test, p = 0.001) and beta-biodiversity (Bray–Curtis metric, p < 0.001) in the CAD group were observed. Moreover, a predicted functional analysis revealed some taxonomic units, metabolic pathways, and proteins that might be characteristic of the CAD patients’ microbiome, such as increased expressions of 6-phospho-β-glucosidase and protein-N(pi)-phosphohistidine-sugar phosphotransferase and decreased expressions of DNA topoisomerase, oxaloacetate decarboxylase, and 6-beta-glucosidase. In summary, CAD is associated with altered gut microbiome composition and function.
Highlights
Among the non-infectious diseases, cardiovascular pathologies are significant causes of mortality (49% of all deaths) [1]
As in the mentioned study, we showed that Faecalibacterium, Roseburia dominated the control group compared to the coronary artery disease (CAD) group, while Escherichia-Shigella were enriched bacteria in CAD patients [20]
We only showed a trend in the increase in Actinobacteria phylum in the CAD group, we confirmed a statistically significant increase in the Actinomycetales and Micrococcaceae order
Summary
Among the non-infectious diseases, cardiovascular pathologies are significant causes of mortality (49% of all deaths) [1]. CAD causes a decrease in quality of life and leads to very high social and economic costs, affecting both individuals and all of society. It is well-known that the most common cause of CAD is atherosclerosis, which is tightly associated with a wide number of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors [3]. Classical CAD risk factors were reliably described based on a Framingham cohort study [4]. Despite knowledge of these risk factors, morbidity and mortality associated with CAD remain high. It is necessary to seek new factors that may play a role in the development of CAD and influence the prognosis in this group of patients
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