Scientists Discover Gut Bacteria Stops Heart Disease — Transcript

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1. 0:00Scientists just found a gut bacterium
2. 0:02that can keep your arteries clear.
3. 0:04Blockages in arteries start when
4. 0:05lowdensity lipoprotein or LDL, the
5. 0:08particles that carry cholesterol around
6. 0:09the body, get stuck in the vessel walls.
7. 0:12Every year, this causes around 12
8. 0:14million deaths worldwide. Diet and
9. 0:15lifestyle play a huge part of this, but
10. 0:17when scientists compared the gut
11. 0:19bacteria of 412 people, they found a
12. 0:21species called bactaroides uniformis was
13. 0:24at least 60% more common in those with
14. 0:26arteries that were healthy and clear. So
15. 0:29researchers at China's Sunyatsen
16. 0:30University set out to prove the link was
17. 0:32more than just a gut feeling. The team
18. 0:34found that as the bacterium feeds on
19. 0:35fiber in the gut, its metabolism
20. 0:37releases a 15 carbon fatty acid called
21. 0:40C-15, which passes through the gut
22. 0:42lining into the bloodstream, eventually
23. 0:44ending up in the liver. There, the 15
24. 0:46carbon chain fits into the binding site
25. 0:48of HMG COA reductase, the enzyme that
26. 0:51turns a small molecule called HDM COA
27. 0:53into the raw material for cholesterol.
28. 0:55But unlike its usual food source, C-15
29. 0:58can't be turned into a cholesterol
30. 0:59precursor. So, it simply blocks the
31. 1:01binding site, meaning the liver makes
32. 1:03less cholesterol of its own. But the
33. 1:05liver still needs some cholesterol to
34. 1:06build its cell membranes and to
35. 1:08function. So, when it can't make enough,
36. 1:09it puts extra LDL receptors on its
37. 1:12cells, which pull LDL out of the blood
38. 1:14so the liver can harvest the cholesterol
39. 1:16that it needs. Then with less LDL left
40. 1:18in the blood, plaques in the arteries
41. 1:20run short of building materials, so
42. 1:21blockages grow more slowly and artery
43. 1:24walls are less inflamed. To prove that
44. 1:26they weren't just chewing the fat, they
45. 1:27gave live bacteria to male mice that
46. 1:30lack a gene for clearing cholesterol
47. 1:31from the blood. And after about 12
48. 1:33weeks, those mice had about 40% lower
49. 1:35LDL and about a third less plaque
50. 1:37buildup than untreated mice, putting
51. 1:39this bacterium almost neck andneck with
52. 1:41one of the world's most prescribed heart
53. 1:43medicines. If these results hold up in
54. 1:45humans, we may be able to finally prove
55. 1:46that the way to your heart really is
56. 1:48through your stomach.