Reviewing the Aging of the Gut Microbiome

Researchers here take a high level tour of what is known of age-related changes in the gut microbiome and how they influence health. Accumulating evidence shows a loss of beneficial populations that generate useful metabolites such as butyrate, accompanied by an increase in harmful populations that can provoke chronic inflammation. This is a likely a meaningful contribution to the onset and development age-related conditions, making it a priority to develop ways to reset the balance of populations in the gut microbiome. The best of the available approaches, given the evidence to date, is fecal microbiota transplantation from a young donor. This has been shown to rejuvenation the aging microbiome, improve health, and even extend life span in short-lived laboratory species. The trillions of microorganisms found in and on the human body (the microbiota) offer tremendous potential in understanding aging. The microbiome (the aggregate genetic content of the microbiota) exceeds the human genome by multiple orders of magnitude. Microorganisms colonize numerous sites in and on the body, with the greatest extent of colonization occurring within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Extensive and rigorous prior research has emphasized the key role that the gut microbiota has in host health and disease, including contributions to diseases associated with aging such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Yet, despite remarkable progress in understanding the cel...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs