Although, clearly, functional characterization of the role of the various microbial lineages and microbial-derived compounds on arterial stiffness is needed, we hypothesize that the effect of gut microbiome composition on PWV is likely to be due caused by its role in modulating systemic inflammation and that only a part of this effect is captured by measuring CRP, insulin resistance, and traditional risk factors part of the 10-years ASCVD risk score. The gene discussed is CRP; the disease is atherosclerosis.