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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1410272

Gut Microbiota as a Residual Risk Factor Causally Influencing Cardiac Structure and Function: Mendelian Randomization Analysis and Biological Annotation

Provisionally accepted
Yihua Li Yihua Li 1Meidan Yao Meidan Yao 1,2,3Fei Xie Fei Xie 1Yijun Qiu Yijun Qiu 2Xinjun Zhao Xinjun Zhao 2Rong Li Rong Li 2*
  • 1 First Clinical Medical College, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 2 The First Affiliated Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 3 Lingnan Medical Research Centre, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: The gut microbiota (GM) is widely acknowledged to have a significant impact on cardiovascular health and may act as a residual risk factor affecting cardiac structure and function. However, the causal relationship between GM and cardiac structure and function remains unclear. Objective: This study aims to employ a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to investigate the causal association between GM and cardiac structure and function. Methods: Data on 119 GM genera were sourced from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis (13,266 European participants) conducted by the MiBioGen consortium, while data on 16 parameters of cardiac structure and function were obtained from the UK Biobank's GWAS of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (up to 41,135 European participants). Inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, and weighted median (WM) methods were utilized for causal association assessments, with sensitivity analyses conducted to reinforce the findings. Finally, biological annotation was performed on the GWAS data of GM and cardiac phenotypes with causal associations to explore potential mechanisms. Results: The MR analysis, predominantly based on the IVW model, revealed 93 causal associations between the genetically predicted abundance of 44 GM genera and 16 cardiac structure and function parameters. These associations maintained consistent directions in MR-Egger and WM models, with no evidence of pleiotropy detected. Biological annotations suggest that GM may influence cardiac structure and function through pathways involved in myocardial cell development, cardiac contractility, and apoptosis. Conclusion: The MR analysis supports a causal association between certain abundances of genetically predicted GM and cardiac structure and function, suggesting that GM could be a residual risk factor impacting cardiac phenotypes.

    Keywords: gut-heart axis, Gut Microbiota, Cardiac structure and function, causal inference, Mendelian randomization

    Received: 31 Mar 2024; Accepted: 04 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Yao, Xie, Qiu, Zhao and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Rong Li, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510405, Guangdong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.