Gut microbiota-dependent trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) pathway contributes to both development of renal insufficiency and mortality risk in chronic kidney disease.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a gut microbial-dependent metabolite of dietary choline, phosphatidylcholine (lecithin), and l-carnitine, is elevated in chronic kidney diseases (CKD) and associated with coronary artery disease pathogenesis.

Objective

To both investigate the clinical prognostic value of TMAO in subjects with versus without CKD, and test the hypothesis that TMAO plays a direct contributory role in the development and progression of renal dysfunction.

Methods and results

We first examined the relationship between fasting plasma TMAO and all-cause mortality over 5-year follow-up in 521 stable subjects with CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate, <60 mL/min per 1.73 m(2)). Median TMAO level among CKD subjects was 7.9 μmol/L (interquartile range

SUBMITTER: Tang WH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4312512 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature