Tryptophan and Age-Related Changes in the Gut Microbiome

Researchers here suggest that reduced tryptophan intake can change the balance of populations in the gut microbiome to favor inflammatory microbes. Diet in late life is often deficient, with consequences that can approach outright malnutrition. It seems unlikely that this is a major issue earlier in life, however, and the gut microbiome exhibits harmful shifts in composition as early as the mid-30s. The influence of changes in the gut microbiome on health may be in a similar range to those of exercise, so it is a topic of growing interest in the research community. Ways to preserve or reset the gut microbiome have been demonstrated in animal studies, such as flagellin immunization or fecal microbiota transplantation. Bringing these and other approaches into human medicine should be a priority, given the comparatively low cost and risk. With age, a diet lacking in the essential amino acid tryptophan - which has a key role in our mood, energy level and immune response - makes the gut microbiome less protective and increases inflammation body-wide, investigators report. In a normally reciprocal relationship that appears to go awry with age, sufficient tryptophan helps keep our microbiota healthy. A healthy microbiota in turn helps ensure that tryptophan mainly results in good things for us like producing the neurotransmitter serotonin, which reduces depression risk, and melatonin, which aids a good night's sleep. But in aged mice, just eight weeks on a low-trypto...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs