Researchers are reporting development of a potential new class of drugs that may reduce cardiovascular risk by targeting microbes in the gut. The new compounds prevent microbes from making a harmful molecule that studies have linked to heart disease without killing the microbes, which may be beneficial to overall health, they say. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States.
In studies using mice, the new drugs lowered levels of TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide), a gut bacterial byproduct that forms during digestion. In doing so, the drugs reversed two major risk factors for cardiovascular disease: increased platelet (blood cells involved in clotting) responsiveness and excessive clot formation. The study, partly funded by NHLBI, appeared in Nature Medicine.