The interplay among gut microbiota, hypertension and kidney diseases: the role of short-chain fatty acids

Publication date: Available online 10 January 2019Source: Pharmacological ResearchAuthor(s): Raphael José Ferreira Felizardo, Ingrid Kazue Mizuno Watanabe, Patrizia Dardi, Luciana Venturini Rossoni, Niels Olsen Saraiva CâmaraAbstractThe bacteria community living in the gut maintains a symbiotic relationship with the host and its unbalance has been associated with progression of a wide range of intestinal and extra intestinal conditions. Hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are closely associated diseases with high incidence rates all over the world. Increasing data have supported the involvement of gut microbiome in the blood pressure regulation and the impairment of CKD prognosis. In hypertension, the reduced number of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) producing bacteria is associated with modifications in gut environment, involving reduction of the hypoxic gut profile and worsening of the microbial balance, leading to a loss of epithelial barrier integrity, development of gut inflammation and the reduction of SCFAs plasma levels. Those modifications compromise the blood pressure regulation and, as a consequence, favor the end organ damage, also affecting the kidneys. In CKD, impaired renal function leads to accumulation of high levels of uremic toxins that reach the intestine and cause alterations in bacteria composition and fecal metabolite profile, inducing a positive feedback that allows translocation of endotoxins into the bloodstream, which enhances local kidn...
Source: Pharmacological Research - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research