Chronic Apical Periodontitis Promotes Atherosclerosis Through Gut Microbiota Imbalance in ApoE-deficient Mice

The aim of this study was to explore the impact of chronic apical periodontitis CAP on atherosclerosis in apoE deficient mice. This investigation focused on the gut microbiota changes to uncover potential links between oral health and cardiovascular disease (CVD). In this study, CAP was shown to exacerbate atherosclerosis in HFD fed apoE deficient mice. 16S rRNA sequencing revealed significant alterations in the gut microbiota, with harmful bacterial species thriving while beneficial species declining. Furthermore, to confirm the involvement of altered gut microbiota in the CAP-induced atherosclerotic process, a fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) experiment was used to validate the contribution of CAP-induced alterations in the gut microbiota to atherosclerosis. Unsurprisingly, the gut microbiota of the CAP group of mice still exhibited an increased degree of atherosclerosis in pseudosterile mice. In this part of the data we uploaded, we present the gut microbiota 16S rRNA sequencing results of all the above experimental mice