Gut Micro-Organisms and Coronary Artery Disease: What the Genome Study Found

Our heart’s health is connected to many things – including tiny living organisms in our gut called microbes. A new study looked at people with Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), a condition where the blood vessels of the heart get narrowed or blocked and tried to find how their gut microbes differ from people without CAD.

The researchers used a method called “metagenome-assembled genomes” (which means they looked at the collection of microbial genes from gut samples) to see which microbes were present and what they might be doing. They found that people with CAD had a different set of gut microbes compared to people who were healthy.

Here are the key take-aways:

Different microbes show up in CAD.

In people with CAD, certain bacteria were more common (especially those that tend to cause more inflammation). Meanwhile, some “friendly” bacteria that help the gut and body stay calm were less common in CAD cases.

Microbes do different jobs.

The study found that some of the microbes in healthy guts help break down food fibers, produce helpful molecules, and support health. In CAD guts, the microbes leaned more toward pathways that can create less-helpful or even harmful molecules. For example, when friendly microbes drop off, harmful ones can make substances linked with fat in the blood, inflammation, and artery blockages.

Why this matters

When the gut microbes lean more toward “bad” pathways, they can help create inflammation, make cholesterol change in unhelpful ways, or produce molecules that hurt the arteries. These changes may make CAD worse or more likely to happen. So the gut microbiome may be a key partner in heart-artery health.

While this study doesn’t give a full solution yet, it suggests that supporting gut microbe balance, by eating better, maybe using certain fibers or probiotics might one day support heart artery health. It flags the gut as a place to pay attention to when we think about our heart.

In short, the study shows that people with coronary artery disease have gut microbiomes with different bacteria and different metabolic “jobs” going on. Some friendly microbes and helpful metabolites are missing. Some less-helpful microbes and pathways are increased. This opens the door to thinking about the gut as part of heart-health strategies.