A gut microbiome-kidney-heart axis predictive of future cardiovascular diseases
Journal article, 2026
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain a major global health challenge. Early markers of disease initiation and progression are urgently needed. We, and others, have previously shown changes in the gut microbiome in association with metabolic and CVD. Here, we demonstrate that gut microbiome-related changes can be detected in association with subclinical variations in heart and kidney function. Markers related to gut microbial metabolism of aromatic amino acids, phenylalanine and tyrosine, associate with circulating pro-atrial natriuretic peptide and estimated glomerular filtration rate in a metabolically healthy European population. Observational and genetic evidence further identify microbiome-related metabolites as mediators of this gut microbiome-kidney axis, with their baseline levels associating with incident CVD in an external Canadian population. Altogether, our work suggests that the gut microbiome interacts with the cardiorenal axis and participates in an interorgan crosstalk affecting host physiology and risk of CVD.
Author
Kanta Chechi
Department of Metabolism
National Heart and Lung Institute
Rima Chakaroun
Wallenberg Lab.
Leipzig University
Antonis Myridakis
Department of Metabolism
Sofia K. Forslund
The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
Deutsches Zentrum für Herz-Kreislauf-Forschung e. V.
Charité University Medicine Berlin
Sebastien Fromentin
University Paris-Saclay
Trine Nielsen
Zealand University Hospital
Steno Diabetes Center
University of Copenhagen
Novo Nordisk Foundation
Judith Aron-Wisneswky
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP)
Eugeni Belda
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
Edi Prifti
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
Pierre Bel-Lassen
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP)
Gwen Falony
KU Leuven
Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology
University Medical Center Mainz
Wageningen University and Research
Sara Vieira-Silva
KU Leuven
University Medical Center Mainz
Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology
Universite catholique de Louvain
J. Chilloux
Department of Metabolism
Kazuhiro Sonomura
Shimadzu Corporation
L. Hoyles
Nottingham Trent University
Department of Metabolism
Laura Martinez-Gili
Department of Metabolism
Francesco Pallotti
Kore University of Enna
Department of Metabolism
Petros Andrikopoulos
Department of Metabolism
Francesc Puig-Castellvi
CHU Lille
Romina Pacheco Tapia
CHU Lille
Inés Castro-Dionicio
CHU Lille
Hugo Roume
University Paris-Saclay
Nicolas Pons
University Paris-Saclay
Emmanuelle Le Chatelier
University Paris-Saclay
Benoit Quinquis
University Paris-Saclay
Nathalie Galleron
University Paris-Saclay
Magali Berland
University Paris-Saclay
Michael Olanipekun
Department of Metabolism
Manyi Jia
Department of Metabolism
Angelos Manolias
Department of Metabolism
Bridget Holmes
Danone Research
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Solia Adriouch
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
M. Bluher
Leipzig University
Luis P. Coelho
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Kévin Da Silva
University Paris-Saclay
Pilar Galan
Inserm Transfert
Boyang Ji
BioInnovation Institute
Chalmers, Life Sciences, Systems and Synthetic Biology
Ana Luisa Neves
Imperial College London
Department of Metabolism
Christine Rouault
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
Joe-Elie Salem
Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP)
Valentina Tremaroli
Wallenberg Lab.
Tue H. Hansen
University of Copenhagen
Zealand University Hospital
Novo Nordisk Foundation
Nadja B. Søndertoft
Novo Nordisk Foundation
Christian Lewinter
Novo Nordisk Foundation
Helle K. Pedersen
Novo Nordisk Foundation
Peter D. Mark
Rigshospitalet
Jens P. Goetze
Rigshospitalet
Lars Køber
University of Copenhagen
Rigshospitalet
H. Vestergaard
Novo Nordisk Foundation
Steno Diabetes Center
Torben Hansen
Novo Nordisk Foundation
University of Southern Denmark
Jean-Daniel Zucker
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
Taka Aki Sato
Shimadzu Corporation
Serge Hercberg
Inserm Transfert
Fredrik Bäckhed
Wallenberg Lab.
Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Ivica Letunic
Heidelberg University
Biobyte Solutions
Jean-Michel Oppert
Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP)
Jens B Nielsen
Chalmers, Life Sciences, Systems and Synthetic Biology
BioInnovation Institute
Jeroen Raes
KU Leuven
Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology
Ioanna Tzoulaki
Academy of Athens
Imperial College London
Department of Metabolism
Abbas Dehghan
Department of Metabolism
Imperial College London
Verena Zuber
Department of Metabolism
Imperial College London
MRC Centre for Environment and Health
Emmanuelle Bouzigon
Inserm Transfert
Mark Lathrop
McGill University
Parminder Raina
McMaster University
Philippe Froguel
CHU Lille
Imperial College London
Fumihiko Matsuda
Kyoto University
Florence Demenais
Inserm Transfert
Dominique Gauguier
McGill University
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Kyoto University
M. Stumvoll
Leipzig University
Peer Bork
The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
Heidelberg University
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
O. B. Pedersen
University of Copenhagen
Gentofte Hospital
Novo Nordisk Foundation
Stanislav Dusko Ehrlich
University Paris-Saclay
University College London (UCL)
K. Clement
Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP)
Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC)
Marc-Emmanuel Dumas
Department of Metabolism
McGill University
National Heart and Lung Institute
CHU Lille
Nature Communications
2041-1723 (ISSN) 20411723 (eISSN)
Vol. 17 1Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Microbiology in the Medical Area
Cardiology and Cardiovascular Disease
Endocrinology and Diabetes
DOI
10.1038/s41467-026-69405-0
PubMed
41786749