Heart Health

Your Gut Fungi May Be Quietly Stiffening Your Arteries

Researchers studied 763 adults to explore whether gut fungi — not just bacteria — influence arterial stiffness, a key marker of vascular aging. Using pulse wave velocity testing, fungal DNA sequencing, and metabolomics, they found that people with stiffer arteries had less clustered, more chaotically communicating fungal communities in their gut. Five specific fungal genera were identified as drivers of this shift, with Apiotrichum emerging as the central player. The fungi appear to affect arteries through organic acids, fatty acids, and alkaloids that interact with known cardiovascular pathways including the renin-angiotensin system, adrenergic receptors, and inflammatory mediators like TNF. The findings open a new avenue for vascular health: targeting the gut mycobiome.