Medizinische Universität Graz Austria/Österreich - Forschungsportal - Medical University of Graz
Navigation/Suche
- Forscher*innen
- Institutionen
- Projekte
- Publikationen
- Partner
- Geldgeber
- Ausstattung
- Knowhow
- Forschungsfelder
"Köpfe" der aktuellen Meldungen:
Gewählte Publikation:
SHR Neuro Krebs Kardio Lipid Stoffw Microb
Shah, S; Mu, C; Shen-Tu, G; Schlicht, K; Forkert, N; Laudes, M; Köfeler, HC; Shearer, J.
Altered Tryptophan Metabolism and Gut Immune Crosstalk in Hypertensive Middle-Aged Women.
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2025;
Doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00395.2025
PubMed
FullText
FullText_MUG
- Co-Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz
- Köfeler Harald
- Altmetrics:
- Dimensions Citations:
- Plum Analytics:
- Scite (citation analytics):
- Abstract:
- The gut microbiome is increasingly recognized as a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of hypertension; however, there remains a significant gap regarding its role in middle-aged women, a demographic that has unique physiological and hormonal characteristics influencing both microbiome composition and blood pressure. Normotensive and hypertensive middle-aged women (n=108) from Alberta's Tomorrow Project (AB, Canada) were matched for age (56.6 ± 0.9 years) and body mass index (24.3 ± 0.2 kg/m²). Fecal microbiota was analyzed using 16S rRNA sequencing while serum was assessed using untargeted metabolomics and lipidomics. Hypertensive women exhibited selective taxonomic shifts, evidenced by an elevated Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and enrichment of pro-inflammatory taxa, including Anaerostipes and Collinsella. Circulating levels of tryptophan and its pro-inflammatory metabolite kynurenine were significantly elevated, while microbiota-derived indoles, known for their anti-inflammatory effects were reduced. This metabolic shift was paralleled by a depletion of indole-producing species (Alistipes shahii, Bacteroides faecichinchillae, Bacteroides stercoris), suggesting impaired microbial tryptophan-to-indole conversion. Serum inflammatory cytokines, including interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, and an elevated IL-12/IL-10 ratio, were increased in hypertensive participants. Notably, kynurenine was positively correlated with the IL-12/IL-10 ratio. Hypertension in middle-aged women is associated with altered abundance of functionally relevant taxa characterized by shifts in tryptophan metabolism toward pro-inflammatory kynurenine pathways at the expense of protective indole derivatives. Collectively, these findings highlight gut-immune-metabolic cross-talk contributing to hypertension and suggest microbiota-regulated tryptophan metabolism as a potentially modifiable therapeutic target.