Gut flora profiling in people with cardiovascular disease

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a set of symptoms, such as chest pain, nausea and sweating, caused from decreased blood flow in the coronary arteries which supply blood to the heart. It is the unstable form of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Chronic stable angina, on the other hand, has similar symptoms, but these symptoms ease with rest, unlike ACS. So, chronic stable angina is the stable form of this CVD. The aim of this study is to profile the gut microbiome, from dental scrapings, saliva, blood and faecal samples in people with acute coronary syndrome, chronic stable angina and healthy individuals. This is important as many studies have established that normal people have a certain gut microbiome profile compared to people with cardiovascular disease. In addition to gut microbiome profiling, the information gathered from the results of this study may be beneficial in a clinical setting. Given the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and the large interest in the microbiome field, the findings of this study will allow a greater understanding of the role of the microbiome in cardiovascular disease, which will have important clinical implications. It may also facilitate the future development of different therapeutic strategies to target and/or change the microbiome, which will be explored through intervention studies. Dental, stool, saliva and blood samples will be obtained in the hospital at baseline (time zero) and again at follow-up (6 months).