🔹 Imbalances in the gut microbiota (microorganisms within the gut) have been increasingly implicated in a range of health conditions. HKU Stroke recently conducted a study involving 241 men and women aged 40-65 years old and demonstrated that imbalances of the gut microbiota was associated with high blood pressure (hypertension), using 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (the most accurate means of diagnosing hypertension). Interestingly, these associations were only noted in women but not in men.
🔹 Our findings suggest potential sex differences in the relationships of the gut microbiota with disease states such as hypertension, which may be important when considering treatment strategies targeting at altering the gut microbiota.
⭐️This study received an Award for Patient-Oriented or Clinical Research in Hypertension from the American Heart Association 2022.
🔸The full study has been published in the American Heart Association Journal 'Hypertension' and can be accessed via:
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.122.20752