Microbiome signatures in ischemic stroke: A systematic review

Wei Zhang; Rongbing Tang; Yanfei Yin; Jialong Chen; Lihe Yao; Bin Liu

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23743

Microbiome signatures in ischemic stroke: A systematic review

Heliyon. 2023 Dec 16;10(1):e23743. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23743. eCollection 2024 Jan 15.

Authors

Wei Zhang^{1

2

3}, Rongbing Tang², Yanfei Yin³, Jialong Chen¹, Lihe Yao^{1

4}, Bin Liu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ The First School of Clinical Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
² The School of Stomatology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
³ Healthy Examination & Management Center of Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Lanzhou University First Hospital, Lanzhou, China.

Abstract

Microbial structural changes and dysfunction play an important role in the development of cerebral ischemia. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library and conducted a systematic review to assess the relationship between the human microbiome and ischemic stroke. A total of 24 studies were included, and the intestinal bacterial communities detected in both stroke and healthy people were dominated by 4 main phyla, including Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria. Significant diversity (alpha and beta) in patients with ischemic versus nonischemic stroke was observed in nine out of 18 studies, and 3 studies showed that the severity of ischemic stroke affected microbial diversity. The imbalance of bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) changes the bacterial metabolic pathway, and disorders in the level of bacterial metabolites (trimethylamine N-oxide TMAO) lead to significant changes in intestinal flora function, which may aggravate the severity of stroke and affect its prognosis. Further studies are needed to explore the relationship between the microbiome and ischemic stroke.

Keywords: Ischemic stroke; Microbiome; SCFA; TMAO.

Publication types

Review