A retrospective study of gut microbiota characteristics in a Shanghai elderly cohort of hyperlipidemic patients

Hyperlipidemia significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, and the number of patients is gradually increasing and tends to be younger. The prevalence factors and pathogenesis of hyperlipidemia are the hotspots of current research. Research has shown that abnormal blood lipids are closely related to gut microbiota and dietary habits. We investigated the association between gut microbiota typing and lipid indices in hyperlipidemic patients by 16s rRNA and resolved the differences with gut microbiota in healthy populations, and compared the experimental results using Meta-analysis. The results displayed that the gut microbiota of hyperlipidemic patients could be classified into two enterotypes (Bac and Bla) and there was a significant difference such as Faecalibacterium, Bacteroides, and Agathobacter between the two groups. There was a high similarity in the composition of gut microbiota between Bac enterotype patients and healthy individuals, and the TG levels of the patients in the Bac group were also less different from those of the healthy population. However, the relative abundance of Faecalibacterium and Bacteroides was lower appreciably in patients with Bla enterotypes compared to patients with Bac enterotypes and healthy populations, suggesting that TG levels may influence changes in gut microbiota. Furthermore, the results of Mate-analysis did not reveal a significant correlation between Bacteroides and TG, whereas this study has detected a negative correlation between the abundance of Bacteroides and TG content. And the changes in Faecalibacterium abundance in the gut microbiota of hyperlipidemic patients and healthy people in this cohort population were consistent with the results of Meta-analysis. Therefore, they may be potential strains for the treatment of hyperlipidemia caused by elevated TG.