Gut flora profiling in heart failure patients

Heart failure is a chronic condition, with symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness and oedema, and signs, such as increased venous pressure and pulmonary crackles, occurring when the heart cannot pump blood effectively around the whole body due to a weak or stiff heart muscle. 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).