Common Dietary Fat and Intestinal Microbes Linked to Heart Disease

ScienceDaily (Apr. 6, 2011) — a brand new pathway has been discovered that links a standard dietary lipid and intestinal microflora with an increased risk of heart disease, in line with a Cleveland Clinic study printed within the latest issue of Nature.

The study shows that individuals who eat a diet containing a standard nutrient found in animal merchandise (such as eggs, liver and alternative meats, cheese and alternative dairy merchandise, fish, shellfish) don't seem to be predisposed to cardiovascular disease solely on their genetic make-up, but rather, how the micro-organisms that live in our digestive tracts metabolize a selected lipid -- phosphatidyl choline (also referred to as lecithin). Lecithin and its metabolite, choline, are found in several business baked merchandise, dietary supplements, and even children's vitamins.

The study examined clinical knowledge from one,875 patients who were referred for cardiac analysis, furthermore as plasma samples from mice. When fed to mice, lecithin and choline were converted to a heart disease-forming product by the intestinal microbes, that promoted fatty plaque deposits to create among arteries (atherosclerosis); in humans, higher blood levels of choline and also the heart disease forming microorganism merchandise are strongly related to increased cardiovascular disease risk.

"When 2 folks each eat an analogous diet however one gets heart disease and also the alternative does not, we tend to currently assume the cardiac disease develops owing to their genetic differences; however our studies show that's solely a region of the equation," said Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., employees in Lerner analysis Institute's Department of Cell Biology and also the Heart and Vascular Institute's Department of Cardiovascular drugs and Section Head of Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation at Cleveland Clinic, and senior author of the study. "Actually, variations in gut flora metabolism of the diet from one person to a different seem to possess an enormous impact on whether or not one develops heart disease. Gut flora could be a filter for our largest environmental exposure -- what we tend to eat."

Dr. Hazen added, "Another exceptional finding is that choline -- a natural semi-essential vitamin -- when taken in excess, promoted atherosclerotic heart disease. Over the past few years we've got seen a large increase within the addition of choline into multi-vitamins -- even in those marketed to our youngsters -- however it's this same substance that our study shows the gut flora will convert into one thing that incorporates a direct, negative impact on heart disease risk by forming an atherosclerosis-causing by-product."

In studies of quite a pair of,000 subjects altogether, blood levels of 3 metabolites of the dietary lipid lecithin were shown to strongly predict risk for cardiovascular disease: choline (a B-complex vitamin), trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO, a product that needs gut flora to be made and comes from the choline cluster of the lipid) and betaine (a metabolite of choline).

"The studies establish TMAO as a blood take a look at that may be employed in subjects to ascertain who is very in danger for cardiac disease, and in would like of a lot of strict dietary intervention to lower their cardiac risk," Dr. Hazen said.

Healthy amounts of choline, betaine and TMAO are found in several fruits, vegetables and fish. These 3 metabolites are commonly marketed as direct-to-consumer supplements, supposedly giving increased brain health, weight loss and/or muscle growth.

These compounds are commonly used as feed additives for cattle, poultry or fish as a result of they'll create muscle grow faster; whether or not muscle from such livestock have higher levels of those compounds remains unknown.

"Knowing that gut flora generates a pro-atherosclerotic metabolite from a standard dietary lipid reveal new opportunities for improved diagnostics, prevention and treatment of heart disease," Dr. Hazen said. "These studies recommend we are able to intelligently style a heart healthy yogurt or alternative kind of probiotic for preventing heart disease within the future. It additionally seems there's a necessity for considering the danger vs. edges of some commonly used supplements."