Max Kozlov in Nature:
A gut microbe that’s commonly found in humans manufactures a molecule that is capable of slashing cholesterol levels and shrinking plaque in arteries, according to a study published today in Nature1.
When given to mice, the compound, from the gut bacterium Bacteroides uniformis, reduced the animals’ arterial plaque by about half. It achieved the feat, researchers found, using the same biological action as that of statins, drugs that are prescribed to hundreds of millions of people worldwide to ward off cardiovascular disease. The findings underline new ways in which people’s collection of gut microorganisms, known as their microbiome, might be harnessed to protect the heart, says study co-author Wenjing Zhao, a microbiologist at Sun Yat-sen University in Shenzhen, China.
More here.
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