Intestinal microflora affects the development of vascular pathologies
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
It turns out that healthy vessels are a consequence of an adequate state of the microflora in the intestine.
Scientists say about the importance of the balance of intestinal bacteria for a long time: representatives of microflora not only participate in the processes of digestion of food, but also affect metabolism, the immune system and even brain activity.
Certain types of microorganisms can increase the risk of metabolic pathologies, while others, on the contrary, increase the resistance of the organism to such diseases.
But the balance of microflora is not everything. No less important is how this flora is diverse. It is generally accepted that health problems can arise due to a "misunderstanding" of bacterial groups and immune defense complexes.
The immune system controls all processes occurring in the digestive tract: potential pathogenic bacteria are destroyed as soon as they enter the digestive organs. But, in order for this mechanism not to fail, it is necessary that immunity can always distinguish a useful microorganism from a dangerous one. Strangely enough, this is facilitated by a greater diversity of microflora, since with its meagerness, the immunity relaxes, which contributes to the development of the inflammatory process.
Scientists from the University of Nottingham and the Royal School of London shared another problem associated with a small variety of intestinal microflora. Professor Ana M. Valdez and colleagues examined the health of the vascular system in a couple of hundred of the participants in the twins of the middle age group. It was found that the stiffness of the walls of the arteries is dependent on the composition of the intestinal microflora. With the most diverse microflora, the arterial vessels were less rigid.
In turn, the state of the vascular system affects the cardiac function. With excessive stiffness of blood vessels, the heart has difficulty in regulating blood flow and adapting the frequency of contractions to the required volume of pumped blood. Of course, you can not cast aside hereditary factors. However, the experiment examined the state of health of twins, who have practically the same genetics. And if one twin has more rigid vessels, heredity to this has nothing to do.
Undoubtedly, scientists took into account both the way of life of participants, and the cholesterol content in the blood, and the presence of metabolic pathologies - that is, all the factors capable of causing a change in the elasticity of the vascular walls were taken into account. But, according to scientists, the influence of these factors was estimated only in 2%, and the effect of intestinal flora - in 10%.
The conclusions drawn by the scientists only confirm that the state of microflora must be treated very carefully, not oppressing, but contributing to its diversity.
The bacterial composition of the intestine depends mainly on what the person eats, so in many cases, the balance and diversity can be adjusted with the help of proper nutrition. In this case, a greater influence on the quality of the flora is provided by vegetables, fruits, greens, sour-milk products, as well as wine and tea.
The information is published on the pages of the European Heart Journal (https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurheartj/ehy226/4993201).
[