Two new studies identifying strains of gut microbiota associated with more severe strokes and worse post-stroke recovery point to a possible role for the gut microbiome in preventing stroke and improving outcomes.
Researchers identified gut microbiota that were different in stroke patients compared to control persons, including more than two dozen bacteria associated with a range of stroke subtypes and strains specifically associated with worse stroke severity 6 hours and 24 hours after the event.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that researchers say could eventually lead to therapies to improve stroke outcomes.
"There are no specific neuroprotective treatments to prevent neurological worsening after stroke," Miquel Lledós, MSc, a doctoral student at Stroke Pharmacogenomics and Genetics Laboratory at the Sant Pau Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain, who led one of the studies, told Medscape Medical News. "The use of new therapies such as changes in the microbiome through nutritional changes or fecal transplantation could be useful to improve post-stroke evolution or to decrease stroke risk."
The findings were presented at the European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) 2022 on May 4.
A Role for Gut Bacteria?
Gut microbiota have been implicated in dementia risk, cardiovascular disease, and multiple sclerosis relapsePrior research has also pointed to a possible link between gut bacteria and stroke.
