Gut Bacteria Turn Pomegranate Into a Plaque-Stabilizing Heart Protector

A metabolite called urolithin A, produced by gut bacteria from pomegranate polyphenols, reduces oxidative stress and inflammation and stabilizes arterial plaques, lowering plaque size in a mouse model without changing cholesterol levels, pointing to a microbiome-based approach to cardiovascular disease; human studies are needed since individual gut microbiomes vary in producing urolithin A.