Connecting the Dots between Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis and Atherosclerosis: A Systematic Review

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is rising despite improvements in risk factor management. Numerous causes, including lifestyle modifications, environmental conditions, and gut microbiota dysbiosis, could be blamed for this. The type of bacteria involved and their primary role in atherosclerosis remain unknown even though the association between gut microbiota and atherosclerosis has been explored. Through a systematic review, this study sought to understand how dysbiosis of the gut microbiota contributes to atherosclerosis. PubMed, EBSCOhost, EMBASE, and Cochrane were searched for relevant literature. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for nonrandomized studies was used to measure the risk of bias, and study selection was conducted following PRISMA 2020 recommendations. Both subclinical and symptomatic atherosclerosis were taken into account. Seven of the 783 studies that included 566 patients with vascular disease associated with atherosclerosis met the inclusion criteria. The composition of the gut microbiota varied considerably between the healthy control group and the atherosclerotic group. Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) have lower alpha diversity. Atherosclerosis was linked to an increase in potentially hazardous bacteria such as Escherichia sp., Shigella sp., Enterococcus sp., and Ruminococcus gnavus and a decrease in helpful bacteria like Subdoligranulum, Roseburia, Faecalibacterium, and Eubacterium rectale. Conclusively, changes in the makeup of the gut microbiota shown in the atherosclerotic group might have caused an imbalance in the synthesis of metabolites, indicating that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota may contribute to cardiovascular disease in several ways.