The interplay among gut microbiota, hypertension and kidney diseases: The role of short-chain fatty acids

The bacteria community living in the gut maintains a symbiotic relationship with the host and its unbalance has been associated with progression of a wide range of intestinal and extra intestinal conditions. Hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are closely associated diseases with high incidence rates all over the world. Increasing data have supported the involvement of gut microbiome in the blood pressure regulation and the impairment of CKD prognosis. In hypertension, the reduced number of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) producing bacteria is associated with modifications in gut environment, involving reduction of the hypoxic gut profile and worsening of the microbial balance, leading to a loss of epithelial barrier integrity, development of gut inflammation and the reduction of SCFAs plasma levels. These modifications compromise the blood pressure regulation and, as a consequence, favor the end organ damage, also affecting the kidneys. In CKD, impaired renal function leads to accumulation of high levels of uremic toxins that reach the intestine and cause alterations in bacteria composition and fecal metabolite profile, inducing a positive feedback that allows translocation of endotoxins into the bloodstream, which enhances local kidney inflammation and exacerbate kidney injury, compromising even more CKD prognosis. In line with these data, the use of prebiotics, probiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation are becoming efficient therapies to improve the gut dysbiosis aiming hypertension and CKD treatment. This review describes how changes in gut microbiota composition can affect the development of hypertension and the progression of kidney diseases, highlighting the importance of the gut microbial composition uncovering to improve human health maintenance and, especially, for the development of new alternative therapies.