The same metabolite, imidazole propionate (ImP), was already found to be associated with diabetes and heart failure. See for example this study in Nature Communications (2020): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19589-w.
I think the value of the current study in Nature is that "ImP administration to atherosclerosis-prone mice fed with chow diet was sufficient to induce atherosclerosis without altering the lipid profile, and was linked to activation of both systemic and local innate and adaptive immunity and inflammation.", i.e. they provided evidence of causality in a mechanistic way, with an intervention.
However, the newspaper article overplayed novelty. ImP and other metabolites from gut bacteria have already been linked to atherosclerosis.
"The new study shows that blood levels of imidazole propionate
are lower in people with diets rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish,
tea, and low-fat dairy products."
"When Fuster presented the project in 2010, he noted how difficult
it is to diagnose cardiovascular problems early and how simple
it is to prevent them, with measures such as exercising,
following a healthy diet, and not smoking."
The kind of good news is that it looks like that eating a lot of fat is not an issue per-se if you manage to reduce your level of imidazole propionate!
"another shocking finding: atherosclerosis was ubiquitous"... yikes, can't wait till this inhibitor makes it to market.
Anyway, fascinating. As time goes on, more "lifestyle diseases" will be root-caused like this, rather than just being due to "personal choice" and "willpower". There are a ton of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_disease
1. Ulcers: (stress?)... now root-caused to H.pylori infection.
2. Atherosclerosis (Bad diet? Lack of exercise?)... now maybe root-caused.
3. ?
Yes, sure, lifestyle has something to do with any or all of these. But how much seems debatable.
> As time goes on, more "lifestyle diseases" will be root-caused like this, rather than just being due to "personal choice" and "willpower".
The article directly says that diet and lifestyle factors are associated with levels of imidazole propionate
> When Fuster presented the project in 2010, he noted how difficult it is to diagnose cardiovascular problems early and how simple it is to prevent them, with measures such as exercising, following a healthy diet, and not smoking. The new study shows that blood levels of imidazole propionate are lower in people with diets rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, tea, and low-fat dairy products.
It's easy to be lured into the idea that diseases are inflicted upon us by nature at random rather than the result of our lifestyle, but in cases like this it's lifestyle and diet that shape the activity of the bacteria.
> Ulcers: (stress?)... now root-caused to H.pylori infection.
This is also a misunderstanding of the research. About half of ulcers are caused by NSAID overuse. NSAID overuse is associated with stress, too. Even without NSAIDs, stress is associated with increased stomach acid production, which amplifies susceptibility to ulcers.
So it's not correct to wave it all away and say that it's all random bacterial infections. NSAIDs are a common source, and stress can amplify susceptibility to ulcers from either cause.
Be sure you want to inhibit Imidazole propionate before you do so. It is know to inhibit prostate cancer. And here is a littel secret, it is kind of spoken about quietly that most people who have family history of heart disease have lower rates of cancer and visa versa.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-78787-4
There exists a statistically substantial inverse association between angina pectoris and lung cancer (β = − 0.118, p = 0.001), breast cancer (β = − 0.049, p = 0.029), and colorectal cancers (β = − 0.152, p = 0.003). A noteworthy inverse correlation was observed between heart attack and lung cancer
Also Imidazole propionate is metabolized by bacteria from histidine. And Histidine turns into Histamine withe the help of B6 via Histidine decarboxylase.
Massively. Changing diet is about the only realistic way to elicit long-term changes in the microbiome. Even taking probiotics doesn't last very long.
There's a lot of questionable microbiome science that hasn't been replicated. You can find a lot of studies that say something changes the microbiome, but it's almost always a single short-term observational study on a small group of people.
Realistically, increasing vegetable intake and reducing processed food intake are the easiest knobs you can turn to adjust the microbiome. A lot of people reach for supplements or imagine extreme measures like fecal transplants, but the practical solution is to simply buy some snacking vegetables every time you go to the store and eat them throughout the day.
Paid for by taxpayers via 37 academic grants and fellowships primarily from the EU. Minority contributions are from the US (NIH). One corporation (Santander Bank).
"A team of Spanish scientists made a striking announcement 15 years ago: they were seeking thousands of volunteers among the employees of Banco Santander in Madrid: researchers wanted to study them in depth for decades, in order to understand the onset of cardiovascular disease in healthy people."
Is there a project like this one can join in the US? I've always wanted to contribute to a biomedical study.
"Cohort study" is the broader term for this type of work. For heart disease, the Framingham Heart Study (in Framingham MA) is a foundational one in the US.
It's not really something you can go looking to volunteer for though, someone has to be putting together a cohort study (which is a big expensive long term project) on a group that you happen to be part of, and you can agree to participate in it.
You could look for specific studies on clinialtrials.gov. Its a database of trials in the US and also around the world. In the US I'm not sure of the status of such studies about budget cuts to NIH.
I myself was on 1 year study post organ transplant for impact of whole grain plant based diet. They educate you initially on the diet and then monitor your weight and blood tests over the year.
Atherosclerosis is, as I’ve read, a major cause of age related disease and death, so finding a cause and solution like this could be a major advancement in increasing healthspan. Another step toward longevity escape velocity.
I wonder how this study can be reconciled with the carnivorous diet, which is apparently high in good fats and good cholesterol. There is also the notion of structured water and a deficient exclusion zone which could explain the presence of plaque in the vessels according to Thomas Cowan, for example. So, I'm not sure that the factors that prevent plaque formation are those indicated. Nutrition is a complex matter.
>I wonder how this study can be reconciled with the carnivorous diet,
It cannot. Well mostly. As I said, heart disease when eating high meat diets will only be risky for those people with the wrong genetics, mostly if you have disorders of B6 metabolism, carnivore will be bad for you.
The plaques are also formed by lipid oxidation so oxidative stress plays a role as well.
nextos|7 months ago
I think the value of the current study in Nature is that "ImP administration to atherosclerosis-prone mice fed with chow diet was sufficient to induce atherosclerosis without altering the lipid profile, and was linked to activation of both systemic and local innate and adaptive immunity and inflammation.", i.e. they provided evidence of causality in a mechanistic way, with an intervention.
However, the newspaper article overplayed novelty. ImP and other metabolites from gut bacteria have already been linked to atherosclerosis.
elcritch|7 months ago
BruceEel|7 months ago
tolerance|7 months ago
greatgib|7 months ago
FollowingTheDao|7 months ago
Microbially produced imidazole propionate impairs prostate cancer progression through PDZK1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39819421/
You really need to know your genetics to be certain, and make sure you have enough B6.
Meat is very high in histidine so that is why this meat, without enough B6, will raise the risk of heart disease and T2D as well as colon cancer.
pretzellogician|7 months ago
Anyway, fascinating. As time goes on, more "lifestyle diseases" will be root-caused like this, rather than just being due to "personal choice" and "willpower". There are a ton of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle_disease
1. Ulcers: (stress?)... now root-caused to H.pylori infection.
2. Atherosclerosis (Bad diet? Lack of exercise?)... now maybe root-caused.
3. ?
Yes, sure, lifestyle has something to do with any or all of these. But how much seems debatable.
Aurornis|7 months ago
The article directly says that diet and lifestyle factors are associated with levels of imidazole propionate
> When Fuster presented the project in 2010, he noted how difficult it is to diagnose cardiovascular problems early and how simple it is to prevent them, with measures such as exercising, following a healthy diet, and not smoking. The new study shows that blood levels of imidazole propionate are lower in people with diets rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, tea, and low-fat dairy products.
It's easy to be lured into the idea that diseases are inflicted upon us by nature at random rather than the result of our lifestyle, but in cases like this it's lifestyle and diet that shape the activity of the bacteria.
> Ulcers: (stress?)... now root-caused to H.pylori infection.
This is also a misunderstanding of the research. About half of ulcers are caused by NSAID overuse. NSAID overuse is associated with stress, too. Even without NSAIDs, stress is associated with increased stomach acid production, which amplifies susceptibility to ulcers.
So it's not correct to wave it all away and say that it's all random bacterial infections. NSAIDs are a common source, and stress can amplify susceptibility to ulcers from either cause.
FollowingTheDao|7 months ago
Microbially produced imidazole propionate impairs prostate cancer progression through PDZK1 https://molmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s10020-025...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-78787-4 There exists a statistically substantial inverse association between angina pectoris and lung cancer (β = − 0.118, p = 0.001), breast cancer (β = − 0.049, p = 0.029), and colorectal cancers (β = − 0.152, p = 0.003). A noteworthy inverse correlation was observed between heart attack and lung cancer
Also Imidazole propionate is metabolized by bacteria from histidine. And Histidine turns into Histamine withe the help of B6 via Histidine decarboxylase.
So maybe people with heart disease need B6?
Vitamin B6 and cardiovascular disease https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22116704/
So it is personal choice, but you have to know the choices. Many things deplete B6, alcohol being one opf them.
tmaly|7 months ago
Aurornis|7 months ago
There's a lot of questionable microbiome science that hasn't been replicated. You can find a lot of studies that say something changes the microbiome, but it's almost always a single short-term observational study on a small group of people.
Realistically, increasing vegetable intake and reducing processed food intake are the easiest knobs you can turn to adjust the microbiome. A lot of people reach for supplements or imagine extreme measures like fecal transplants, but the practical solution is to simply buy some snacking vegetables every time you go to the store and eat them throughout the day.
the8472|7 months ago
mtalantikite|7 months ago
wslh|7 months ago
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44593748
[2] "Imidazole propionate is a driver and therapeutic target in atherosclerosis" https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09263-w
searine|7 months ago
elektor|7 months ago
Is there a project like this one can join in the US? I've always wanted to contribute to a biomedical study.
wlesieutre|7 months ago
It's not really something you can go looking to volunteer for though, someone has to be putting together a cohort study (which is a big expensive long term project) on a group that you happen to be part of, and you can agree to participate in it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framingham_Heart_Study
pkaye|7 months ago
I myself was on 1 year study post organ transplant for impact of whole grain plant based diet. They educate you initially on the diet and then monitor your weight and blood tests over the year.
OleksiiA|7 months ago
ck2|7 months ago
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120....
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9235870/figure/F1/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6213249/figure/nutr...
pygy_|7 months ago
stefantalpalaru|7 months ago
[deleted]
commiefornia|7 months ago
[deleted]
epicureanideal|7 months ago
lkuty|7 months ago
Modified3019|7 months ago
I don’t know how to say this kinder than that you’ve been intellectually consuming trash, please pull yourself back.
FollowingTheDao|7 months ago
It cannot. Well mostly. As I said, heart disease when eating high meat diets will only be risky for those people with the wrong genetics, mostly if you have disorders of B6 metabolism, carnivore will be bad for you.
The plaques are also formed by lipid oxidation so oxidative stress plays a role as well.
patrickhogan1|7 months ago
meepmorp|7 months ago
I had to look up structured water and agree with the sibling poster: stop listening to cranks and grifters.
snapcaster|7 months ago