Researchers have discovered that specific gut bacteria can lower cholesterol and reduce heart disease risk. The study identified Oscillibacter bacteria that metabolize cholesterol, potentially paving the way for microbiome-based interventions to decrease cholesterol levels in humans.
Researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital discovered that specific gut bacteria can lower cholesterol and reduce heart disease risk, a finding from the Framingham Heart Study involving over 1,400 participants. Their study, published in Cell, identified Oscillibacter bacteria that metabolize cholesterol, potentially paving the way for microbiome-based interventions to decrease cholesterol levels in humans.
Research identifies multiple types of bacteria that metabolize cholesterol in individuals with reduced cholesterol levels. Alterations in the gut microbiome are associated with a range of diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and inflammatory bowel disease. Members of Ramnik Xavier’s lab, Broad’s Metabolomics Platform, and collaborators analyzed metabolites and microbial genomes from more than 1,400 participants in the Framingham Heart Study, a decades-long project focused on risk factors for cardiovascular disease. They found that Oscillibacter bacteria in the gut can take up and metabolize cholesterol from their surroundings, and that people carrying higher levels of the microbe in their gut had lower levels of cholesterol. They also identified the mechanism the bacteria likely use to break down cholesterol. The results suggest that interventions that manipulate the microbiome in specific ways could one day help decrease cholesterol in people
Gut Bacteria Cholesterol Heart Disease Microbiome Interventions Framingham Heart Study
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