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Published on: May 21, 2017
Gut microbiome composition differs between aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation patients
Benedikt Bartsch1, Svetozar Nesic2, Muntadher Al Zaidi3
1Department of Medicine-II, Heart Center Bonn, University Hospital Bonn Venusberg, Campus 1, 53127, Bonn, Germany. benedikt.bartsch@ukbonn.de.
Scientific Reports
|July 23, 2026
Summary
The gut microbiome differs significantly in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) compared to those with aortic regurgitation (AR). AS patients exhibit a distinct and interconnected gut microbial network, suggesting a role for the microbiome in AS pathogenesis.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Research
- Microbiome Research
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- The gut microbiome's role in cardiovascular diseases is increasingly recognized, but data on aortic valve disorders, like aortic stenosis (AS), are limited.
- Understanding gut microbiome alterations in AS is crucial for potential therapeutic targets.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize and compare the gut microbiome composition in patients with bicuspid (BS) and tricuspid aortic stenosis (TS).
- To utilize aortic regurgitation (AR) patients as a comparable control group for AS.
- To investigate differences in microbial diversity and network structures between AS and AR groups.
Main Methods:
- Prospective cross-sectional study involving 122 patients (33 AR, 22 BS, 67 TS).
- Gut microbiome profiling via 16S rRNA gene sequencing from anal swabs.
- Beta diversity analysis using UniFrac distances and redundancy analysis.
Main Results:
- Both TS and BS patients showed distinct gut microbiome compositions compared to AR controls, irrespective of clinical confounders.
- AS patients exhibited increased levels of Corynebacterium, Anaerococcus, Peptoniphilus, and Finegoldia, while AR patients had higher abundances of Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, Lachnoclostridium, and Alistipes.
- AS patients displayed a highly interconnected bacterial network, unlike the more isolated changes seen in AR patients.
Conclusions:
- Aortic regurgitation patients serve as a clinically suitable control group for aortic stenosis research.
- Aortic stenosis is associated with a distinct gut microbiome composition and a complex, interconnected microbial network.
- Further mechanistic studies are warranted to explore the role of this altered microbiome in AS pathogenesis.
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