Prebiotics a novel approach in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases

The February edition of Gut investigates preclinical demonstration of a novel approach in the management of endothelial dysfunction.

Professor Nathalie Delzenne and colleagues from Belgium investigated the beneficial role of prebiotics on endothelial dysfunction, an early key marker of cardiovascular diseases, in an original mouse model linking steatosis and endothelial dysfunction.

The team examined the contribution of the gut microbiota to vascular dysfunction observed in apolipoprotein E knockout mice fed an n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid-depleted diet for 12 weeks with or without inulin-type fructans supplementation for the last 15 days.

Mesenteric and carotid arteries were isolated to evaluate endothelium-dependent relaxation ex vivo.

Inulin-type fructan supplementation totally reverses endothelial dysfunction in mesenteric and carotid arteries

Gut

Cecal microbiota composition and key pathways/mediators involved in the control of vascular function, including bile acid profiling, gut and liver key gene expression, nitric oxide and gut hormones production were also assessed.

The research team found inulin-type fructan supplementation totally reverses endothelial dysfunction in mesenteric and carotid arteries of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid-depleted apolipoprotein E knockout−/− mice via activation of the nitric oxide synthase/nitric oxide pathway.

Gut microbiota changes induced by prebiotic treatment consist in increased nitric oxide-producing bacteria, replenishment of abundance in Akkermansia and decreased abundance in bacterial taxa involved in secondary bile acid synthesis.

The team discovered that changes in gut and liver gene expression also occur upon inulin-type fructans suggesting increased glucagon-like peptide 1 production and bile acid turnover as drivers of endothelium function preservation.

Professor Delzenne's team concludes, "We demonstrate for the first time that inulin-type fructans improve endothelial dysfunction, implicating a short-term adaptation of both gut microbiota and key gut peptides."

"If confirmed in humans, prebiotics could be proposed as a novel approach in the prevention of metabolic disorders-related cardiovascular diseases"