The intestinal microbiome and extremes of atherosclerosis

Traditional risk factors for coronary heart disease explain only about half of the variance in atherosclerosis burden. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to conduct a cross-sectional examination of the microbiota composition in a cohort of patients that were phenotyped for the burden of carotid atherosclerosis. Forty-four patient stool samples were collected and the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene were paired-end sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq. Patients were segregated into two groups. One group had few risk factors, yet had severe carotid atherosclerosis. The other group had many risk factors, yet had little evidence of carotid atherosclerosis. No differences in the microbiota composition between patients in the two groups was observed.