Jalal Moludi
1,2, Mohammad Alizadeh
1*, Ned Lotfi Yagin
1, Yahiya Pasdar
3, Seyed Mostafa Nachvak
3, Hadi Abdollahzad
3, Ali Sadeghpour Tabaei
41 Nutrition Research Center, Faculty of Nutrition, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
2 Students’ Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
3 Nutritional Sciences Department, School of Nutritional Sciences and Food Technology, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
4 Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
Abstract
The incidence of atherosclerosis is increasing rapidly all over the world. Inflammatory processes
have outstanding role in coronary artery disease (CAD) etiology and other atherosclerosis
manifestations. Recently attentions have been increased about gut microbiota in many fields of
medicine especially in inflammatory diseases like atherosclerosis. Ineffectiveness in gut barrier
functions and subsequent metabolic endotoxemia (caused by rise in plasma lipopolysaccharide
levels) is associated with low-grade chronic inflammation i.e. a recognized feature of
atherosclerosis. Furthermore, the role of trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a gut bacterial
metabolite has been suggested in atherosclerosis development. On the other hand, the effectiveness
of gut microbiota modulation that results in TMAO reduction has been investigated. Moreover,
considerable evidence supports a role for the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in atherosclerosis
pathology which affects gut microbiota, but their effects on atherosclerosis are controversial.
Therefore, we presented some evidence about the relationship between gut microbiota and ECS
in atherosclerosis. We also presented evidences that gut microbiota modulation by pre/probiotics
can have significant influence on the ECS.