Subclinical atherosclerosis is linked to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth via vitamin K2-dependent mechanisms

Figure 1 Study workflow.

Figure 2 Plasma concentration of dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated matrix Gla-protein in patients under study. Patients with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) exhibited significantly higher levels as compared to the patients without SIBO (9.5 μg/L vs 4.2 μg/L; P = 0.02). Median values are represented by boxplot internal lines and ranges by whiskers. dp-ucMGP: Dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated matrix Gla-protein.

Figure 3 Pulse-wave velocity values observed in the study population. Pulse-wave velocity (PWV) was increased in patients with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) compared to the no-SIBO group (10.25 m/s vs 7.68 m/s; P = 0.002). Median values are represented by boxplot internal lines and ranges by whiskers.

Figure 4 Linear regression model highlighting the direct correlation between plasma concentration of dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated matrix Gla-protein and pulse-wave velocity (β = 0. 219, R² = 0.293, P = 0.0004). dp-ucMGP: Dephosphorylated-uncarboxylated matrix Gla-protein; PWV: Pulse-wave velocity.