If You Are Unable to Lower Your Blood Pressure, This Can Help You Correct Hypertension – A Major Risk Factor for Heart Attacks, Strokes, and Kidney Disease.

Researchers at The University of Toledo have successfully demonstrated that engineered bacteria can effectively reduce blood pressure, marking a significant breakthrough in the exploration of using our body’s microbiome to treat hypertension.

Published in the journal Pharmacological Research, this study represents a profound shift in perspective, according to Dr. Bina Joe, a hypertension researcher at UToledo and the senior author of the paper.

“The question we always ask is, can we exploit microbiota to help our health, for which optimal blood pressure is a cardinal sign? Until now, we have simply said changes in microbiota play a role in elevated blood pressure or hypertension. Those are important findings, but they don’t always have an immediate translational application,” Dr. Joe explained.

Dr. Joe, a Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, has been a pioneer in investigating the connection between gut bacteria and blood pressure regulation.

In this groundbreaking research, Dr. Joe’s team worked with Lactobacillus paracasei, a beneficial gut bacterium that was genetically modified to produce a protein called ACE2. They administered this engineered bacterium as a probiotic to lab rats predisposed to hypertension and unable to naturally produce ACE2.

ACE2 has gained attention in recent years for its role as a receptor for the COVID-19 virus. However, it also plays a crucial role in negatively regulating the renin-angiotensin system, which generates angiotensin II—a hormone that elevates blood pressure by constricting blood vessels.

How Can Engineered Bacteria Improve Blood Pressure?

By administering the engineered Lactobacillus paracasei bacterium as a probiotic to rats, researchers successfully introduced human ACE2 into their gastrointestinal systems. This introduction led to a targeted reduction in gut angiotensin II levels, subsequently resulting in a decrease in blood pressure.

Notably, the blood-pressure-lowering effects were observed exclusively in female rats. Despite no discernible difference in ACE2 expression between male and female rats, only the female rats experienced a reduction in blood pressure.

The precise reason behind this gender-specific response remains uncertain, but Dr. Joe speculates that it may be related to the fact that females possess two functional copies of ACE2, unlike males.

The ACE2 gene is situated in a region of the X-chromosome that evades a genetic process known as X-inactivation. It appears that having two functional copies of ACE2 is particularly vital for females, as the loss of both copies resulted in significantly higher hypertension levels in females compared to males.

Dr. Joe remarked, “Females therefore appear to readily accept all the help they can get from gut microbiota supplying ACE. For now, this is a theory that requires further experimental proof.”

Despite the differing outcomes in male and female rats, Dr. Joe emphasized that these findings represent a critical milestone in bridging the gap between the concept of leveraging bacteria for the treatment of hypertension and other chronic conditions and its practical implementation in clinical settings.

But microbiome medicine—is it a fad or is it real? 

Dr. Joe emphasized the significance of the research, stating, “There have been questions about microbiome medicine—is it a fad or is it real? This is an extremely exciting demonstration that we can exploit bacteria to work for us, and it works for high blood pressure, something that affects a significant portion of the population. It’s that ray of hope that you may not need traditional medications to keep your blood pressure in check.”

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of U.S. adults have hypertension, and only about one in four have their blood pressure under control. Despite often being asymptomatic, uncontrolled hypertension is a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease.

Further research is required to explore the effects of introducing ACE2-producing bacteria in animals that naturally produce the protein and to investigate potential side effects associated with boosting ACE2 levels in the gut.

Nevertheless, this pioneering research from UToledo underscores the immense potential of utilizing gut bacteria for therapeutic purposes.

“It is a real possibility that we can use bacteria to correct hypertension. This is a big deal, and the concept could be applied to other diseases,” Dr. Joe concluded. “For example, if you are unable to control your sugar, can we have bacteria make a protein that can lower your blood glucose? There are still a lot of questions that need to be answered, but now we know the paradigm works.”

“It is a real possibility that we can use bacteria to correct hypertension. This is a big deal, and the concept could be applied to other diseases,” Dr. Joe concluded. “For example, if you are unable to control your sugar, can we have a bacteria make a protein that can lower your blood glucose? There are still a lot of questions that need answered, but now we know the paradigm works.”

Image Credit: iStock