Microbial Diversity and Abundance of Parabacteroides Mediate the Associations Between Higher Intake of Flavonoid-Rich Foods and Lower Blood Pressure

• Published in: Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. 1979) Tex. 1979), 2021-08
• Main Authors: Jennings, Amy, Koch, Manja, Bang, Corinna, Franke, Andre, Lieb, Wolfgang, Cassidy, Aedín
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0194-911X
• DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.121.17441

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