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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Gut microbiota–derived metabolite drives atherosclerosis

By
  1. Sarah Crunkhorn
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Strategies to identify and treat early atherosclerosis are urgently needed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications. A paper in Nature now reports that imidazole propionate (ImP), a molecule made by bacteria residing in the gut, contributes to atherosclerosis development in mice and is linked to early active atherosclerosis in humans. In mice, pharmacological blockade of the imidazoline-1 receptor (I1R), which is expressed in several cell types including myeloid cells, inhibited ImP- or high-cholesterol-induced atherosclerosis development.

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Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 24, 741 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41573-025-00141-8

References

  1. Mastrangelo, A. et al. Imidazole propionate is a driver and therapeutic target in atherosclerosis. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09263-w (2025)

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