The faecal abundance of short chain fatty acids is increased in men with a non-dipping blood pressure profile.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS\nGut microbiota (GM) has been involved in the pathophysiology of hypertension (HT), notably via short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Among the clinical manifestations of HT, the absence of a significant drop in night-time blood pressure (BP) (also known as the non-dipping BP profile) has been associated with poor renal and cardiovascular outcomes. The putative link between GM-derived metabolites and BP dipping status is still unknown.\n\n\nMETHODS\nMale volunteers (n\u2009=\u200944) were prospectively subjected to 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, stool sample collection and a medical questionnaire. Metabolomics analyses of stool samples were conducted using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR).\n\n\nRESULTS\nHigher amounts of acetate, butyrate and propionate were found in the stools of non-dippers (n\u2009=\u200912) versus dippers (n\u2009=\u200926) (p\u2009=\u20090.0252, p\u2009=\u20090.0468, and p\u2009=\u20090.0496, respectively; n\u2009=\u200938 in toto). NMR spectral data were not interpretable in 5 dippers and 1 non-dipper. A similar significant association was found when including only patients without anti-HT medications (p\u2009=\u20090.0414, p\u2009=\u20090.0108, and p\u2009=\u20090.0602, respectively; n\u2009=\u200921 in toto). A not significant trend was observed when focussing only on HT patients without anti-HT medications (p\u2009=\u20090.0556; n\u2009=\u200914 in toto).\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nOur pilot study highlights a putative link between GM-derived SCFAs and the BP dipping status, independently of the BP status itself or the anti-hypertensive medications.