Ricerc@Sapienza

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death and disability in developed countries. Therefore, it is important to discover novel strategies for their prevention and treatment.
Gut microbiota is emerging as a new potential therapeutic target for preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases. Experimental studies demonstrated that alteration of gut permeability induces vascular damage and in turn atherosclerotic process.
In light of what has been said about the role of intestinal permeability in the onset of cardiovascular events, the aim of the project is to will be to assess the degree of alteration of intestinal permeability in patients at risk of cardiovascular disease and whether an alteration of intestinal permeability is observed, and it is a predictor of cardiovascular events or worsening disease. In particular, our research plan proposes a unique translational approach from bench to bedside to clarify whether:
1) there is a relation between gut permeability, measured by a newly developed method, and cardiovascular disease, correlating and comparing endothelial dysfunction, platelet activation, inflammation pathway and cardiovascular events;
2) LPS or other microbiota products are involved in the alteration of gut permeability, vascular damage and platelet activation by in in vitro experiments.
If successful, our work may provide new evidence supporting the potential role of gut microbiota in cardiovascular diseases and extending, on a large scale, the use of direct and non-invasive methods could be a valid instrument to stratify the risk of atherothrombosis could help prevent the onset of cardiovascular events in clinical practice.