The gut microbial metabolite trimethylamine N-oxide and cardiovascular diseases.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review without systematic search or meta-analytic pooling
PubMed 36824355 · doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1085041
What was done
This narrative review synthesizes literature regarding the biochemical characteristics of gut microbial metabolite trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), its production pathway from dietary choline and L-carnitine, and mechanisms linking elevated TMAO to various cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis, heart failure, hypertension, arrhythmia, and coronary artery disease.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative values, effect sizes, or confidence intervals. It qualitatively reports that TMAO impairs cholesterol metabolism, promotes platelet aggregation and thrombosis, accelerates atherosclerosis, and correlates with worse prognosis in cardiovascular diseases.
Why it matters
The review summarizes mechanistic links connecting the gut microbiota to cardiovascular disease pathogenesis, supporting TMAO-lowering pathways as potential therapeutic targets.
Limits
The paper is a non-systematic narrative review providing no primary empirical data, pooled quantitative estimates, or formal risk-of-bias assessments. The abstract does not report the number of studies reviewed or inclusion criteria.
Cited by
- supports TMAO is a gut-derived compound associated with atherosclerosis and heart disease that is synthesized from dietary precursors including L-carnitine in red meat and choline in eggs.