The increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases cannot adequately be explained by traditional risk factors. Recently, accumulating evidence has suggested that gut microbiota-derived numerous metabolites are contributors to atherosclerotic events. Among them, the role of Trimethylamine N-Oxide (TMAO) in promoting atherosclerosis has gained attention. TMAO is reported to exert the proatherogenic effects by impacting on the traditional risk factors of atherosclerosis and is associated with high risk of cardiovascular events. Besides that, TMAO is involved in the complex pathological processes of atherosclerotic lesion formation, such as endothelial dysfunction, platelet activation and thrombus generation. In light of these promising findings, TMAO may serve as a potential target for atherosclerosis prevention and treatment, which is conceptually novel, when compared with existing traditional treatments. It is likely that regulating TMAO production and associated gut microbiota may become a promising strategy for the anti-atherosclerosis therapy.

中文翻译：

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动脉粥样硬化中的肠道菌群：专注于三甲胺N-氧化物。

传统的危险因素不能充分解释心血管疾病患病率的上升。最近，越来越多的证据表明，肠道菌群衍生的许多代谢产物是动脉粥样硬化事件的起因。其中，三甲胺N-氧化物（TMAO）在促进动脉粥样硬化中的作用已受到关注。据报道，TMAO通过影响动脉粥样硬化的传统危险因素发挥促动脉粥样硬化作用，并且与心血管事件的高风险有关。除此之外，TMAO还参与了动脉粥样硬化病变形成的复杂病理过程，例如内皮功能障碍，血小板活化和血栓形成。鉴于这些令人鼓舞的发现，TMAO可能是预防和治疗动脉粥样硬化的潜在目标，与现有的传统疗法相比，这在概念上是新颖的。调节TMAO的产生和相关的肠道菌群可能成为抗动脉粥样硬化治疗的有前途的策略。