Data on the gut and saliva microbiota from a cohort of atherosclerosis patients determined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

This work was conducted to characterize the 16S rRNA gene profile of a cohort of patients with traditional risk factors for developing atherosclerosis. The patients in the cohort were divided into two extremes; those predicted to develop extreme atherosclerosis who did not (Protected), and those predicted not to develop atherosclerosis who did (Unexplained). Bacterial DNA was isolated from stool and saliva and this was used to determine the V4 variable region of the 16S rRNA gene sequence composition of the samples in triplicate.