Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an endotoxin of the bacterial cell wall of the intestine, can reach the arterial vessels and cause inflammation and thrombosis. This is a new cardiovascular risk factor that has been pinned on the intestine. A series of studies conducted by a Sapienza team led by the Distinguished Professor Francesco Violi and published in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews-Cardiology revealed this. These findings advance our understanding of the factors that inflame the arteries and promote the onset of a heart attack. Due to a functional disorder of the intestinal wall, the study demonstrated that lipopolysaccharide can cross the intestinal wall and reach the arteries, promoting inflammation and thrombosis. The results demonstrated that LPS is present in the carotid arteries of subjects at high risk of stroke due to severe atherosclerotic damage, as well as in the thrombi extracted from the coronary arteries of patients who had undergone a myocardial infarction. In more than 900 patients at risk for cardiovascular events, the researchers determined that measuring LPS in the blood identified patients with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, providing a new tool for the study of arteriosclerosis and its severe cardiovascular complications.