Hypertension and Microbiome:
A large advisory group of scientists from several nations was pulled together by the American Heart Association to examine the latest research on the microbiome and hypertension.
The group was led by Tao Yang (2025) to outline clinical evidence that first shows the causal relationship between a dysfunctional gut microbiome and hypertension - and the possible research studies that can be put into clinical practice.
Quite an ambitious project! The advisory group reviewed existing literature (studies) on the connection between gut and blood pressure, the different links, and the possible mechanisms for these links.
For example: many of us know that high intake of salt can increase hypertension. The relationship is known yet the mechanism that creates this link is complex and involves an interplay between the immune system, vasculature, brain, kidneys, and the gut microbiome.
As it turns out, excess sodium disrupts the gut microbial community, especially lowering lactobacillus (Wilck et al., 2017), which then activates the innate and adaptive immune system (Elijovich et al., 2020). And this is just the beginning.
Yang et al. (2025) focused on the microbial metabolites of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) as an important part of the process of creating a healtheir gut microbiome to lower blood pressure (Wu et al., 2024).
Prebiotic fiber and probiotics also were discussed and showed a beneficial effect on lowering blood pressure (O’Donnell et al., 2023Reynolds et al., 2022; Marques et al., 2017).
Enjoy the Article.
Yours,
Dohrea
Fiber, Polyphenols, and Pre and Probiotics: Beta Glucan Synniotic
References
Yang, T., Maki, K. A., Marques, F. Z., Cai, J., Joe, B., Pepine, C. J., ... & American Heart Association Council on Hypertension; Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; Council on Clinical Cardiology; and Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health. (2025). Hypertension and the gut microbiome: a science advisory from the American Heart Association. Hypertension, 82(9), e160-e170. Article
Adnan S, Nelson JW, Ajami NJ, Venna VR, Petrosino JF, Bryan RM, Durgan DJ. Alterations in the gut microbiota can elicit hypertension in rats. Physiol Genomics. 2017;49:96–104.
Chi C, Li C, Wu D, Buys N, Wang W, Fan H, Sun J. Effects of probiotics on patients with hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Curr Hypertens Rep. 2020;22:34.
Durgan DJ, Zubcevic J, Vijay-Kumar M, Yang T, Manandhar I, Aryal S, Muralitharan RR, Li HB, Li Y, Abais-Battad JM, et al. Prospects for leveraging the microbiota as medicine for hypertension. Hypertension. 2024;81:951–963.
Elijovich F, Laffer CL, Sahinoz M, Pitzer A, Ferguson JF, Kirabo A. The gut microbiome, inflammation, and salt-sensitive hypertension. Curr Hypertens Rep. 2020;22:79.
Li J, Zhao F, Wang Y, Chen J, Tao J, Tian G, Wu S, Liu W, Cui Q, Geng B, et al. Gut microbiota dysbiosis contributes to the development of hypertension. Microbiome. 2017;5:14.
Marques FZ, Nelson E, Chu PY, Horlock D, Fiedler A, Ziemann M, Tan JK, Kuruppu S, Rajapakse NW, El-Osta A, et al. High-fiber diet and acetate supplementation change the gut microbiota and prevent the development of hypertension and heart failure in hypertensive mice. Circulation. 2017;135:964–977.
O’Donnell JA, Zheng T, Meric G, Marques FZ. The gut microbiome and hypertension. Nat Rev Nephrol. 2023;19:153–167.
Toral M, Robles-Vera I, de la Visitación N, Romero M, Yang T, Sánchez M, Gómez-Guzmán M, Jiménez R, Raizada MK, Duarte J. Critical role of the interaction gut microbiota - sympathetic nervous system in the regulation of blood pressure. Front Physiol. 2019;10:231.
Reynolds AN, Akerman A, Kumar S, Diep Pham HT, Coffey S, Mann J. Dietary fibre in hypertension and cardiovascular disease management: systematic review and meta-analyses. BMC Med. 2022;20:139.
Wu G, Xu T, Zhao N, Lam YY, Ding X, Wei D, Fan J, Shi Y, Li X, Li M, et al. A core microbiome signature as an indicator of health. Cell. 2024;187:6550–6565.e11.
Yang T, Richards EM, Pepine CJ, Raizada MK. The gut microbiota and the brain-gut-kidney axis in hypertension and chronic kidney disease. Nat Rev Nephrol. 2018;14:442–456.
Zhao TX, Zhang L, Zhou N, Sun DS, Xie JH, Xu SK. Long-term use of probiotics for the management of office and ambulatory blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials. Food Sci Nutr. 2023;11:101–113.
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