ESOC 2022 | Gut microbiome composition influences stroke severity and recovery

Miquel Lledós, PhD Student, Sant Pau Research Institute Stroke, Barcelona, Spain, shares the findings of a study showing links between gut microbiome composition and stroke severity and post-stroke recovery. Previous studies have suggested that the gut microbiome may contribute to stroke pathogenesis, with stroke patients showing differences in microbiome composition compared to healthy controls. Additionally, microbiome transfer from aged mice has been shown to contribute to poor functional outcomes in mouse models of ischemia. In the present study, fecal samples were taken from 89 patients who had suffered an ischemic stroke. Composition analysis compared to controls was able to identify multiple types of bacteria associated stroke risk, a more severe stroke in the acute phase, and poor functional outcomes at 3 months. Ongoing work hopes to validate these findings and conduct functional profiling to identify the metabolic pathways at play. This interview took place at European Stroke Organisation Conference 2022 in Lyon, France.