Gain or Loss of Specific Microbial Species May Be a Better Measure of Gut Microbiome Aging

This study explored whether determining the gain or loss of specific taxa represent a more precise metric of healthy/unhealthy aging than summary microbiome statistics, such as diversity and uniqueness. We analyzed microbiome diversity and four measures of microbiome uniqueness in 21,000 gut microbiomes for their relationship with aging and health. We show that diversity and uniqueness measures are not synonymous; uniqueness is not a uniformly desirable feature of the aging microbiome, nor is it an accurate biomarker of healthy aging. Different measures of uniqueness show different associations with diversity and with markers of health and disease. The study identifies that the gut microbiome alterations associated with both aging in general and unhealthy aging are characterized by a common theme: loss of the core microbiome structure (specifically a coabundant species-level guild of the core microbiome) and concomitant increase of a specific guild of disease-associated taxa. Link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00306-9
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs