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Meat-metabolizing bacteria in atherosclerosis

Nature Medicine volume 19, pages 533–534 (2013)Cite this article

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L-Carnitine is a common food supplement and naturally occurs in red meat. This nutrient is metabolized into trimethyl metabolites by the gut microbiota and is associated with an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease. A recent study provides new insights into this link by exploring how the gut microbiota generates proatherogenic metabolites from L-carnitine and how the microbiota is altered in response to an omnivorous diet (pages 576–585).

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Figure 1: A potential mechanism for how microbial metabolism of L-carnitine contributes to atherosclerosis and CVD.

Katie Vicari

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. and the Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Fredrik Bäckhed is at the Wallenberg Laboratory/Sahlgrenska Center for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, Gothenburg, Sweden, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,

    Fredrik Bäckhed

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  1. Fredrik Bäckhed
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Correspondence to Fredrik Bäckhed.

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F.B. is cofounder of and a shareholder in MetaboGen AB.

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Bäckhed, F. Meat-metabolizing bacteria in atherosclerosis. Nat Med 19, 533–534 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3178

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