Human gut microbiota and healthy aging: Recent developments and future prospective

Abstract

The human gut microbiota alters with the aging process. In the first 2-3 years of life, the gut microbiota varies extensively in composition and metabolic functions. After this period, the gut microbiota demonstrates adult-like more stable and diverse microbial species. However, at old age, deterioration of physiological functions of the human body enforces the decrement in count of beneficial species (e.g. Bifidobacteria) in the gut microbiota, which promotes various gut-related diseases (e.g. inflammatory bowel disease). Use of plant-based diets and probiotics/prebiotics may elevate the abundance of beneficial species and prevent gut-related diseases. Still, the connections between diet, microbes, and host are only partially known. To this end, genome-scale metabolic modeling can help to explore these connections as well as to expand the understanding of the metabolic capability of each species in the gut microbiota. This systems biology approach can also predict metabolic variations in the gut microbiota during ageing, and hereby help to design more effective probiotics/prebiotics.

Age, menopausal status and the bladder microbiome

“…The microbiome is known to alter in other body systems with external factors. The gut microbiome changes with external factors and also with age [5]. The vaginal microbiome also alters with age and estrogenisation [6].…”

The Impact of Long‐Term Intake of Phenolic Compounds‐Rich Grape Pomace on Rat Gut Microbiota

“…Normal aging process is associated with alteration in physiological functions and can affect the composition of the GM (Kumar and others ). These reported age‐related differences include a reduction in species diversity, shifts in the dominant species, decline in beneficial microorganisms, and increase in pathogenic bacteria (Salazar and others ).…”

Dysbiosis of the Gut Microbiota on the Inflammatory Background due to Lack of Suppressor of Cytokine Signalling-1 in Mice

“…In humans, it is known that the microbiota of the gut alters with aging, and although the association between gut microbiota and aging is not yet fully understood, diet is one of the most influential factors for altering the composition of the gut microbiota [43]. However, although humans consume a variety of foods during their lifetimes, the mice in our experiments were fed the same food throughout their lifetimes.…”