A link has been discovered between levels of certain gut bacteria and coronary atherosclerotic plaques that are formed by the build-up of fatty and cholesterol deposits which are a significant cause of heart attacks, according to a recent study published in the scientific journal Circulation from researchers at Uppsala and Lund University.
For this study, the researchers analyzed gut bacteria and cardiac imaging of 8,973 participants without heart disease between the ages of 50-65 from Uppsala and Malmo who were enrolled in the Swedish CArdioPulmonary BioImage Study (SCAPIS).
“We found that oral bacteria, especially species from the Streptococcus genus, are associated with increased occurrence of atherosclerotic plaques in the small arteries of the heart when present in the gut flora. Species from the Streptococcus genus are common causes of pneumonia and infections of the throat, skin and heart valves. We now need to understand whether these bacteria are contributing to atherosclerosis development,” says Tove Fall, Professor in Molecular Epidemiology at the Department of Medical Sciences and the SciLifeLab, Uppsala University, who coordinated the study together with researchers from Lund University.
