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Grows up. 12 (UPI) – It has long been known that a high-fat diet increases the risk of heart disease, but researchers now believe they understand the process behind this link.
A diet high in fat disrupts the biology of the inner lining of the intestine and the bacteria that help break down food, producing a substance that, although involved in the digestive process, may contribute to the development of heart disease, study published Thursday by the journal Science Found.
Animal experiments for the research have found that the gut and gut microbiome, or bacteria lining the walls of the intestines, play a key role, study co-author Mariana Byndloss said in a statement. Press.
“Right now, about 40% of the US population is obese, and that percentage is expected to increase,” said Byndloss, assistant professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
“Our research has revealed (…) how diet and obesity can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by affecting the relationship between our gut and the microbes that live in our gut,” she said.
The epithelial cells that line the intestines and gut microbes have a mutually beneficial relationship that promotes a healthy intestinal environment, according to a study by Byndloss and his colleague Andreas Bäumler that was published in January by the journal mBio.
These changes can also affect immune health, according to a study published in June by the journal Nutrients.
For this new study, they explored whether obesity affects this relationship using animal models.
They found that a high fat diet causes inflammation and damages intestinal epithelial cells, thereby impairing the function of energy-generating mitochondria.
By altering the function of mitochondria, the part of cells that produce energy, intestinal cells produce more oxygen and nitrates, the researchers said.
This process, in turn, stimulates the growth of harmful microbes such as E. coli and stimulates bacterial production of a metabolite called trimethylamine, or TMA, according to the researchers.
The liver converts TMA to trimethylamine-N-oxide, TMAO, which has been linked to the development of atherosclerosis or the build-up of fatty plaques in the arteries, the researchers said.
Atherosclerosis is one of the main causes of heart disease, they said.
“We knew that exposure to a high-fat diet caused dysbiosis – an imbalance in the microbiota that promotes harmful microbes, but we didn’t know why or how it happened,” said Byndloss. “We show a way in which the diet directly affects the host and promotes the growth of bad germs.”
A drug called 5-aminosalicylic acid, currently approved for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, restored the function of intestinal epithelial cells and limited the increase in TMAO in the animals used in the study, the researchers said. .
Using the drug in combination with probiotics, or healthy microorganisms found in foods such as yogurt and dietary supplements that restore gut bacteria, can help maintain a healthy intestinal environment and reduce the risk of disease. cardiac.
“This is proof that it is possible to prevent the negative effects associated with a high fat diet,” said Byndloss.
“Only by fully understanding the relationship between the host – us – and gut microbes during health and disease can we design therapies that will be effective in controlling obesity and the outcomes associated with it. obesity like cardiovascular disease, ”she said. .
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