Sex-specific differences in intestinal microbiota associated with cardiovascular diseasesOriginal paper
Karen Pendergrass is a microbiome researcher specializing in microbiome-targeted interventions (MBTIs). She systematically analyzes scientific literature to identify microbial patterns, develop hypotheses, and validate interventions. As the founder of the Microbiome Signatures Database, she bridges microbiome research with clinical practice. In 2012, based on her own investigative research, she became the first documented case of FMT for Celiac Disease, four years before the first published case study.
Read MoreWhat was studied?
This study examined whether the intestinal microbiota differs between men and women who have coronary heart disease (CHD). The researchers compared microbiota composition in CHD patients against non-CVD controls, analyzing each sex separately. Intestinal bacteria were profiled using 16S metagenomic sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform, with data processed in Qiime2. The goal was to identify sex-specific microbial patterns tied to cardiovascular disease.
Who was studied?
The study drew on the CORDIOPREV clinical trial cohort, which included 837 men and 165 women with CHD. These CHD patients were compared against a reference group of 375 individuals without cardiovascular disease, consisting of 270 men and 105 women. In total, the analysis spanned over 1,300 participants across both sexes and disease status.
What were the most important findings?
Beta diversity, reflecting differences in microbial community composition, varied by sex, while alpha diversity (within-sample richness) remained similar between men and women. LEfSe analysis identified sex-specific alterations in the gut microbiota associated with CVD. Using random forest modeling, the researchers pinpointed seven bacterial taxa as key discriminators: g_UBA1819 (Ruminococcaceae), g_Bilophila, g_Subdoligranulum, g_Phascolarctobacterium, f_Barnesiellaceae, g_Ruminococcus, and an unidentified genus within Ruminococcaceae (Ruminococcaceae incertae sedis).
What are the greatest implications of this study?
These findings suggest that cardiovascular disease is linked to distinct microbial signatures depending on sex, rather than a single universal gut microbiota pattern. This implies that future microbiome-based research or risk assessment for CHD may need to account for sex as a variable rather than treating cohorts as uniform. The identified taxa, several from the Ruminococcaceae family and related groups, may serve as candidate markers warranting further investigation in sex-stratified cardiovascular studies.