Dysbiosis of the Gut Microbiota

The gut microbiome is a complex community composed predominantly of beneficial microbes that maintain digestive health, with low levels of opportunistic pathogens that are kept in check under healthy conditions.

A disrupted balance causes dysbiosis, a decrease in microbial diversity, and an overgrowth of certain species.

Antibiotics can worsen dysbiosis by eliminating helpful microbes and allowing opportunistic pathogens like Clostridioides difficile to overgrow.

Over time, dysbiosis reduces the production of microbiota-derived protective metabolites and increases pro-inflammatory signaling, which impairs epithelial tight junctions.

This increases intestinal permeability, allowing bacterial components, such as lipopolysaccharides, to enter the bloodstream.

Circulating lipopolysaccharides activate innate immune signaling and contribute to systemic low-grade inflammation.

They have been associated with increased cardiometabolic risk, based primarily on experimental models and observational human studies.