TMAO tagged posts

Findings lay the groundwork for new stroke treatments, prevention strategies. New findings from Cleveland Clinic researchers show for the first time that the gut microbiome impacts stroke severity and functional impairment following stroke. The results, published in Cell Host & Microbe, lay the groundwork for potential new interventions to help treat or prevent stroke.

The research was led by Weifei Zhu, Ph.D., and Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., of Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute. The study builds on more than a decade of research spearheaded by Dr...

Nacho Vivas, lab manager at the Rey Lab, checks on a group of germ-free mice inside a sterile environment. Credit: Bryce Richter/UW-Madison

If our microbiome overindulges, we might not have access to the nutrients we need. That’s the suggestion from new research that shows mice that harbor high levels of microbes that eat choline are deprived of this essential nutrient. “Gut bacteria get to use a lot of our food before we do,” says Federico Rey, a professor of bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Then we get their leftovers – or their waste. Compared to mice without choline-hungry bacteria, the choline-starved mice had an increased susceptibility to metabolic diseases and gave birth to pups with biochemical alterations in the brain and that exhibited more anxious behaviors...

Highlights •Elevated TMAO levels predict incident risk for thrombotic events in human subjects •TMAO enhances sub-maximal stimulus-dependent platelet activation •Dietary choline, gut microbes, and TMAO are linked to thrombotic potential in vivo •Microbial transplantation shows that thrombosis potential is a transmissible trait

TMAO – gut byproduct of animal-rich diets – encourages over-reactive platelet function, increasing thrombosis risk. In a combination of both clinical studies of over 4,000 patients and animal model studies, Cleveland Clinic researchers have demonstrated – for the first time – that gut microbes alter platelet function and risk of blood clot-related illnesses like heart attack and stroke.

When the nutrient choline –which is abundant in animal products like meat...