Microbial Diversity and Abundance of <i>Parabacteroides</i> Mediate the Associations Between Higher Intake of Flavonoid-Rich Foods and Lower Blood Pressure
Amy Jennings, Manja Koch, Corinna Bang, André Franke, Wolfgang Lieb, Aedín Cassidy
Abstract
We assessed, for the first time, to what extent the composition of the gut microbiome might explain the cross-sectional association of habitual flavonoid and flavonoid-rich food intake with systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) in a community-based sample (N=904) from Northern Germany. Gut microbiome composition was sequenced from 16S ribosomal RNA genes. Higher total flavonoid intakes and specifically the polymer subclass were associated with lower systolic BP (SBP; β T3-T1: −2.9% [95% CI, −5.1 to −0.7], P =0.01 and −3.7% [95% CI, −5.4 to −1.0], P =0.01). In food-based analyses, a higher intake of berries (SBP, β Q4-Q1: −2.9% [95% CI, −5.2 to −0.6], P =0.01; pulse pressure, −5.5% [95% CI, −9.6 to −1.2], P =0.01) and red wine (SBP, β Q4-Q1: −2.6% [95% CI, −4.8 to −0.3], P =0.03; pulse pressure, −6.1% [95% CI, −10.1 to −2.0], P <0.01) were associated with lower SBP and pulse pressure. There were no associations with diastolic BP. In food-based analyses, higher intakes of anthocyanin-rich berries and red wine were associated with higher alpha diversity (β Q4-Q1: 0.03 [95% CI, 0.0–0.1], P =0.04 and 0.1 [95% CI, 0.03–0.1], P <0.01). Higher intakes of berries and apples/pears were associated with a lower abundance of Parabacteroides (β Q4-Q1: −0.2 [95% CI, −0.4 to −0.1], P <0.01, Q=0.07 and −0.3 [95% CI, −0.4 to −0.1], P < 0.01, Q =0.04). Structural equation modeling of these novel data suggests that microbial factors explained 15.2% to the association between flavonoid-rich foods and clinically relevant lower SBP. Further research should focus on interindividual variability in the gut microbiome in mediating the cardiovascular effects of flavonoid-rich foods.