Circulating microbiome-related metabolites have emerged as promising biomarkers for coronary heart disease. A recent multi-stage study in PLOS Medicine strengthens signal prioritization but highlights the persistent gap between association and causality.
“This is one of the most comprehensive metabolomics studies to date, encompassing discovery, in silico validation, and quantitative validation across individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds and geographic regions. Our findings underscore the importance of gut microbial metabolism in cardiovascular disease development and highlight promising molecules that may serve as novel biomarkers or therapeutic targets for future mechanistic and interventional studies.”
Sun et al. (2026) studied this question.