Gut Microbiota as a Potential Treatment Target in Patient with Chronic Heart Failure

Abstract

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a pandemic with a high mortality rate and a high economic burden. The complexity of heart failure clinical syndromes requires approaches through different therapeutic targets. Intestinal dysbiosis is a condition in the human intestinal tract characterized by an imbalance of bacteria, causing various adverse effects. It has been linked with more than 20 diseases and clinical syndromes, including chronic heart failure. The composition of intestinal microbiota is influenced by structural and functional changes of the intestine, which happens in patients with CHF, through a complex network of cytokines, metabolic products, and numerous regulatory molecules. This condition provides exciting new fields for searching for a novel treatment for chronic heart failure. Several interventions, including diet, probiotic, prebiotic, antibiotic, even fecal microbial transplant, have previously been studied. This article discusses the reciprocal relationship between the heart and the gut microbiota through various changes in the gut microbiota composition, intestinal dysfunction, and altered bacterial metabolites and the potential therapies for modulating gut microbiota composition as a target of therapy for CHF.