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Gorillas with heart disease have altered gut microbiomes, study shows

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in zoo gorillas, but its origins remain unknown. Researchers from the University of Minnesota, in collaboration with national and international partners, have studied the trillions of microbes that live in the gastrointestinal tracts of gorillas to determine whether a link exists between the gut microbiome and heart disease. Their findings could have implications for how we may consider addressing cardiovascular issues in human health.

Recently in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, the researchers conducted the largest survey to date of gut microbiome composition and function in gorillas with heart disease. The gut microbiome is critical to metabolic, immune, neurological and overall health. They studied gorillas with and without heart disease in several U.S. zoos, gorillas with unknown disease statuses in multiple European zoos, and wild gorillas from the Central African Republic who don't manifest the disease.

They found:

• Gorillas across zoos in the U.S. and Europe had very distinct microbiomes from those living in wild conditions in Central Africa, likely reflecting substantially different environments and diets.

• Gorillas with heart disease had less diverse gut microbiomes compared to healthy gorillas.

• The gut microbiomes of gorillas with heart disease seem to have lower capacity to produce potentially beneficial compounds and seem to harbor some bacteria connected to poor intestinal health.

• Gorillas in zoos had more diverse gut microbiomes than wild gorillas, possibly because captive gorillas may be overstimulated with more variety of foods that increase microbiome diversity. Regardless, captive gorillas with heart disease still showed lower microbiome diversity and lower capacity to metabolize those foods.

"Because gorillas are one of our closest living relatives, after chimpanzees, the findings show that lifestyle and diet have been major drivers of the gut microbiome along human evolution, potentially influencing modern diseases, such as heart disease and others of the so-called diseases of civilization," said Andres Gomez, an associate professor in the Department of Animal Science.

The researchers hope to expand the study to include other locations and to identify more specific markers of compromised intestinal health. They plan to further explore the dietary, environmental and individual factors that shape the microbiome of zoo gorillas.

"The finding that gut microbiome alterations can occur in diseases beyond the gut, such as cardiovascular disease, reinforces the idea that maintaining intestinal health is critical to maintaining our overall health. This gut health connection has also been shown with mental, neurological, reproductive and immune disease, among others," said Gomez.

The University of Minnesota partnered with the Great Ape Heart Project, Detroit Zoological Society, University of Nebraska, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Czech Academy of Sciences, and the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague on this research.