EXPERIENCE OCTOPUS

A sound microbiota in a sound body through apolipoprotein A-I and HDL

OCTOPUS project stems from the European JPI-HDHL Programme: Joint Programming Initiative-Healthy Diet, Healthy Life.

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ApoA-I/HDL has been recognized to exert a beneficial role in immunity and cholesterol homeostasis, and, as a consequence, to be anti-atherogenic. The proposed project is aimed at demonstrating, for the first time, that apoA-I/HDL can also modulate intestinal homeostasis and microbiota composition and notably, that an apoA-I/HDL deficiency-driven dysbiosis can predispose to atherosclerosis development.

It has been observed that the lack of apoA-I leads to an altered microbiota composition, enriched in choline-degrading bacteria. On the other hand, gut microbiota can influence atherosclerosis development by metabolizing dietary choline.

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OCTOPUS, a multidisciplinary and transnational Consortium consisting of 5 European high profile research groups with a common goal to improve cardiovascular health, will assess to what extent different levels of apoA-I/HDL modulate gut microbiota composition, intestinal homeostasis/immunity, host metabolome and may be related to atherosclerosis development.