The gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular diseases-do they have anything in common?

Abstract

Human gut microbiota is a collection of bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses and parasites that in-habit the gastrointestinal tract and produce a diverse ecosystem of about 1014 microorganisms. Microbiota diversity is caused by differences in the host genome and by environmental factors such as hygiene, lifestyle, nutrition and various drugs. The results of research over the last de-cade have confirmed that altered gut microbiota, dysbiosis, contributes to the development of various diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney di-sease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), chronic inflammatory bowel disease and even some cancers. In the article, the authors present some recent findings on the diversity of gut microbiota, diagnostic methods and some of the pathophysiological mechanisms that influence the development of cardiovascular diseases.