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INTRODUCTION: Advances in genome sequencing technology have allowed researchers to explore the potential roles of the intestinal microbiota in cardiovascular disease. Especially in the last decade, a great deal of evidence has accumulated linking microbial changes with the pathophysiology of coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart failure (HF). We planned to compare the relationship between intestinal microbial composition and serum Tool Like Receptor-4 (TLR-4) level in patients with low ejection fraction HF and control group in this study. METHODS: A total of 40 patients with CAD (only stable ambulatory patients), (19 patients with HF, 21 CAD patients without HF) were included in the study. HF was defined as left ventricular ejection fraction <40%. Gut microbiata was evaluated from fecal samples of participants.The richness and diversity of microbial populations in each sample were evaluated via Chao1 estimated operational taxonomic units (OTU) number and the Shannon index. TLR4 mRNA expression changes between groups were determined by Step One Plus Real Time PCR based on SYBER Green. RESULTS: The demographic characteristics of the patients are shown in the Table 1. The Chao1 estimated OTU number and Shannon index were similar between HF and control groups (Figure 1). TLR-4 level was 3.0917 times higher in the patient group (p=0.029). As shown in Figure 2 (A, B, C), when Kendall rank correlation coefficient was analyzed at the phylum, genus and family level, a correlation was found between serum TLR-4 level and microbial richness and diversity. However, there was no statistically significant superiority. CONCLUSION: Further research is needed to fully elucidate the effect of HF on the gut microbiota. However, this finding did not reach statistical difference. In addition, our results showed that the microbial diversity decreased as the serum TLR-4 level increased. (Bu çalışma 1.sırada yer alan yazar(ın) Oğuz KILIÇ’ın tezinden üretilmiştir. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5126-0959)

Anahtar Kelimeler: microbiata,diversity,inflammation, heart failure