A Seed and Soil Model for Gut Microbiome Aging to Contribute to Alzheimer ' s Disease

It is becoming clear that characteristic age-related changes in the composition of the gut microbiome accompany specific age-related diseases, and may well be contributing meaningfully to the development of those conditions. At the very least, the aged gut microbiome creates chronic inflammation, and that unresolved inflammatory signaling is disruptive to cell and tissue function throughout the body. There may be many other meaningfully involved mechanisms, however, such as changes in metabolite production. Many microbial metabolites have a beneficial effect on cell function, such as butyrate, and are known to decline with age. The gut microbiota is critical for host protection against pathogens, immune development, and metabolism of dietary nutrients and drugs. In healthy individuals, the gut microbial composition is established early in life and remains relatively stable over time. Nevertheless, this ecosystem may become destabilized as a result of aging, environmental factors, and lifestyle habits such as diet. Shifts in gut microbial composition and diversity (i.e., gut dysbiosis) have been reported to influence neuroimmune and neuroendocrine functions through a bottom-up fashion resulting in neuroinflammation, microglial dysregulation, and aberrant protein aggregation in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain. Accordingly, this dysbiotic condition may set the stage for a toxic brain environment that stimulates AD neuropathophysiology, including the deposition of amy...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs