Statins may help reduce weight by altering gut microbiota
Scientists while investigating a potential role of the gut microbiota in the development of cardio-metabolic diseases have identified common cholesterol-lowering drug statins as a potential microbiota-modulating therapeutic.;
Statins may improve gut microbiota and help shed weight in obese individuals, finds a new study. The MetaCardis investigators have explored gut bacteria in almost 900 individuals from Denmark, France and observed that obesity-associated microbiota dysbiosis is negatively associated with statin treatment.The new paper has been published in the scientific journal Nature.
Statin drugs refer to a large class of medications known as HMG-Co A reductase inhibitors and are primarily used for lowering low density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol, and heart attack risk.
Studies in the past have found that imbalances in the composition of gut microbes are linked with a variety of chronic human disorders spanning from obesity, diabetes inflammatory bowel diseases to depression, schizophrenia, autism and Parkinson.
The human gut microbiota consists of trillions of bacteria, fungi and virus constituting an inner chemical factory producing a multitude of microbial compounds affecting immunity, neurobiology and metabolism of the human host.In addition, it is known that unhealthy dieting and use of some medications, for instance stomach acid neutralizers, the so-called proton pump inhibitors, are associated with a further disruption of the microbial communities of the gut.
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