Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death worldwide. Yet we see increasingly clearly that the heart is not just a pump, but is also influenced by another organ: the gut. The gut-heart axis shows how microbiome, immune system and metabolites help decide blood pressure, heart rhythm and cardiac resilience.

Multi-omics makes this hidden dialogue visible and provides physicians with additional guidance for diagnosis, therapy choice and prevention.

The clinical problem

• Hypertension and atherosclerosis are not fully explained by classical risk factors.
• Heart failure patients often show fatigue and inflammation even with good drug control.
• Arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation are associated with metabolic and microbial disturbances.

Majumder et al, Indian Heart J. 2024 and Rezabakhsh et al, Cell Comm. 2025 confirm that the gut-heart axis plays a central role in this.

Multi-omics insights into the gut-heart axis

1. Microbiome dysbiosis and heart disease
   - Shariff et al, Ann Med 2024: dysbiosis increases TMAO (trimethylamine-N-oxide), which potentiates vascular damage and thrombus risk.
2. Paneth cells and barrier function
   - Rezabakhsh et al., 2025: Dysfunction of Paneth cells in the gut may drive systemic inflammation that exacerbates heart failure.
3. Arrhythmogenesis
   - Cheraghi et al, Pathol Res Pract 2025: certain bacterial metabolites affect ion channels and increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmias.
4. Cardio-metabolic crosstalk
   - Schiattarella et al, Circ Res 2025: describes inter-organ communication between gut, heart and metabolism as an explanation for HFpEF (heart failure with preserved ejection fraction).
5. Proteomics as a diagnostic tool
   - Snelson et al, Circ Res 2025: fecal metaproteomics reveals how microbial proteins are associated with inflammation and heart failure progression.

Innovative solutions for the clinic

1. Cardio-Microbiome Map
   - My InnerSelfie combines DNA, microbiome profiles and metabolites (e.g., TMAO, SCFAs) into a personalized risk map.
2. Inflammation Profiles
   - Early detection of microbiome-driven inflammation in heart failure patients.
3. Arrhythmia Risk Index
   - Analysis of metabolites affecting electrical conduction to identify vulnerable patients.
4. Therapy personalization
   - Multi-omics can support physicians in dosing and timing of cardiovascular medications (e.g., statins, anticoagulants).

Why My InnerSelfie is unique

• Multi-omics integration: DNA, metabolites and microbiome analyzed together.
• Crosstalk focus: we show how gut-heart communication affects blood pressure, rhythm and inflammation.
• Preventive precision: risks of hypertension, heart failure or arrhythmias can be detected early.
• Additional tool for the physician: decisions always remain in the hands of the cardiologist; we provide additional evidence.
• Tomorrow's care: innovative, preventive and always customized. Innovation of today becomes the standard of tomorrow - safe and substantiated.

Key insights

• The heart and gut communicate continuously through metabolites and immune signals.
• Dysbiosis contributes to hypertension, heart failure and arrhythmias.
• Multi-omics makes this crosstalk visible and offers physicians a new dimension in precision cardiology.

Scientific references

• Majumder S, Makwana RK, Shetty V, et al. Cardiovascular diseases and the heart-gut crosstalk. Indian Heart J. 2024.
• Rezabakhsh A, Habtemariam S, Parvizi R, et al. Gut-heart axis and Paneth cell dysfunction in CVD. Cell Comm & Signal. 2025.
• Schiattarella GG, Kontaridis MI. Interorgan crosstalk in heart failure and cardiometabolic diseases. Circ Res. 2025.
• Cheraghi M, Nazari A, Souri F. Gut microbiota and cardiac arrhythmogenesis. Pathol Res Pract. 2025.
• Luo L, Zuo Y, Dai L. Metabolic rewiring and gut-heart crosstalk in diabetic HFpEF. Cardiovasc Diabetol. 2025.
• Shariff S, Huey AKS, Soni NP, et al. Unlocking the gut-heart axis in CVD. Ann Med. 2024.
• Kondapalli N, Katari V, Dalal KK. Microbiota and metabolites in CVD. Comp Biochem Physiol. 2025.
• Snelson M, Muralitharan RR, Liu CF, et al. Gut-heart axis in heart failure via fecal metaproteomics. Circ Res. 2025.