The effect of age and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on human intestinal microbiota composition

Abstract

Ageing has been suggested to cause changes in the intestinal microbial community. In the present study, the microbiota of a previously welldefined group of elderly subjects aged between 70 and 85 years, both non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) users (n 9) and nonusers (n 9), were further compared with young adults (n 14) with a mean age of 28 years, by two DNA-based techniques: percentage guanine þ cytosine (%G þ C) profiling and 16S rDNA sequencing. Remarkable changes in microbiota were described with both methods: compared with young adults a significant reduction in overall numbers of microbes in both elderly groups was measured. Moreover, the total number of microbes in elderly NSAID users was higher than in elderly without NSAID. In 16S rDNA sequencing, shifts in all major microbial phyla, such as lower numbers of Firmicutes and an increase in numbers of Bacteroidetes in the elderly were monitored. On the genus level an interesting link between reductions in the proportion of known butyrate producers belonging to Clostridium cluster XIVa, such as Roseburia and Ruminococcus, could be demonstrated in the elderly. Moreover, in the Actinobacteria group, lower numbers of Collinsella spp. were evident in the elderly subjects with NSAID compared both with young adults and the elderly without NSAID, suggesting that the use of NSAID along with age may also influence the composition of intestinal microbiota. Furthermore, relatively high numbers of Lactobacillus appeared only in the elderly subjects without NSAID. In general, the lowered numbers of microbial members in the major phyla, Firmicutes, together with changes in the epithelial layer functions can have a significant effect on the colon health of the elderly.

Nutrition and the gut microbiome in the elderly

“…21 Similarly, variable results have also been observed for lactobacilli, with some studies reporting a reduction 22,28 and others an increase in the levels of these microorganisms at older ages. 24,27,29 It is still unclear whether this variability in the results obtained for certain microbial groups is related to actual population differences or to methodological issues, such as the different techniques used for determining microbial abundancies ( Table 1).…”

Impact of high fat diets, prebiotics and probiotics on gut microbiota and immune function, with relevance to elderly populations

“…A decrease of Clostridium cluster XIVa in elderly persons was reported by Biagi et al [38]. Mueller et al [49] and Makivuokko et al [51] found that such a change was dependent on the nationality of the volunteer.…”

“…Also, by using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) Mueller et al [49] found this trend in Italian elderly. Furthermore, increased Bacteroides have been reported in Austrian elderly patients [50] and Finnish elderly subjects [51] by using molecular methods.…”

“…An increase in facultative anaerobes, such as streptococci, enterococci and enterobacteria is a well confirmed age-related occurrence [39,49,51,52,60,61]. The enterobacteria group are considered to be potentially detrimental; as such these are implicated in pathogenesis when the host immune response alters during the aging process.…”

Polyamines of Plant Origin - An Important Dietary Consideration for Human Health

“…Nevertheless, faecal polyamine concentrations provide supporting evidence of higher polyamine concentrations within the gut in young and healthy adults compared with the elderly. For example, the concentration of spermidine in the faeces of the elderly was found to be significantly less than that in healthy young adults, and this was linked with changes to gut microbiota (Mäkivuokko et al, 2010). Further evidence suggests that hospitalised elderly subjects have significantly lower intestinal polyamine concentrations than healthy adults, and polyamine concentration was significantly influenced by the faecal microflora pattern present between the two groups (Matsumoto & Benno, 2007).…”