The FERM Guild: A Differentially Correlated Microbial Module Drives Hypertension via Metabolic Flux Perturbations

BackgroundHypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, with changes in gut microbiota composition and function being closely associated with its onset and progression. However, the high inter-individual variability in gut microbiota complicates the identification of pathogenic mechanisms using traditional methods. In contrast, the smaller variability in gut microbial metabolites offers a more reliable and consistent basis for cross-individual comparisons. ResultsParsimonious Flux Balance Analysis (pFBA), integrated with Double Machine Learning (DoubleML), identified 17 metabolites significantly associated with hypertension (p < 0.05, RobustnessV alue > 0.1). These included meso-2,6-diaminoheptanedioate, p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, cellobiose, dextran 40 (1,6--D-glucan), L-glutamic acid, kestopentaose, among others. Differential microbial correlation network analysis identified a key microbial sub-network, the FERM guild, consisting of 19 species, with prominent genera including Faecalibacterium,Enterobacter,Roseburia, and Methanobrevibacter. Using GSEA, the dysregulation of this guild was found to be strongly associated with a set of 17 hypertension-related metabolites(p = 0.017). Further analysis revealed that the contribution of FERM genus to key metabolites is significantly associated with blood pressure (p < 0.05), even without significant differences in their abundance; additionally, an imbalance exists between FERM genus and other species. ConclusionsOur findings reveal that hypertension is associated with a disruption of gut microbial diversity, structure, and metabolic function. Seventeen key metabolites related to blood pressure regulation were identified, exhibiting pro- or anti-hypertensive potential and linked to functional microbial modules. These results highlight the gut microbiota and its metabolites as promising targets for therapeutic intervention in hypertension.