Gut microbiota and its metabolites affect and help to treat myocardial fibrosis

Abstract:

Myocardial fibrosis is the end-stage manifestation and main pathogenic factor of a variety of cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, and heart failure. Immune and inflammatory processes play a decisive role in the pathogenesis of myocardial fibrosis. Recent studies have demonstrated that gut microbiota plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis and development of myocardial fibrosis. The dysregulation of gut microbiota can lead to the transfer of microbial metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids, lipopolysaccharides, and trimethylamine oxide into the blood circulation. These metabolites directly or indirectly induce immune responses to tissue damage and systemic activation of inflammatory responses which then affect myocardial fibrosis. How to mitigate myocardial fibrosis by modifying gut microbiota has become the focus of current research, and the measures include dietary interventions, antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation. This paper reviews the interactions of gut microbiota and its metabolites with myocardial fibrosis and introduces the research progress in alleviating myocardial fibrosis by modulating gut microbiota, providing new ideas for the treatment of myocardial fibrosis.