The closer scientists look at the bacteria in the gut, the clearer it becomes for our overall health, and new research links a specific type of gut microbiome development to longer life and a healthier age.
In a study involving more than 9,000 people in three different groups, new research found that our gut microbiomes become more unique and personalized for us as we age, and that the number of nuclear bacteria (such as Bacteroides) tends to decrease as well.
This pattern also seems to be related to physical health and longevity. People whose microbiomas do not keep changing at age and who do not see the reduction of nuclear bacteria, therefore, tend not to be as healthy or live that long.
“This unique signature can predict the survival of patients in the last decades of life,” said biochemist Tomasz Wilmanski of the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB).
“Interestingly, this pattern of uniqueness seems to begin in mid-life – 40-50 years old – and is associated with a clear metabolic blood signature, suggesting that these microbiome changes may not be merely diagnostic for healthy aging. , but that it can also make a contribution. directly to health as we get older. ‘
It was noted that although microbiomes differed in design at older ages, the metabolic functions they performed were consistent between individuals – the researchers found that certain metabolites were linked to longevity in the intestines of humans (and different animals) whose microbiome has a healthier result. pattern.
As Wilmanski noted, the question remains whether these shifts in the composition of microbiome actually contribute to good health or only reflect it, but it is certainly worthy of further investigation, say the scientists – and it provides some clarity to a research area where findings are not always clear.
For example, metabolites called indoles have been previously linked to reduced inflammation in the intestines of mice – and chronic inflammation is one of the health issues known to increase the risk of mortality in older people.
“Previous results in microbiome aging research do not appear to be consistent, with some reports showing a decline in gut sex in centenary populations, while others show the relative stability of the microbiome until the onset of aging-related declines in health,” says microbiologist Sean Gibbons . , from ISB.
“Our work, which is the first to include a detailed analysis of health and survival, can resolve these inconsistencies.”
While the study as a whole covered people aged 18 to 101 years, it was a specific group of individuals between 78 and 98 that enabled the researchers to take a closer look at how microbiomes and mortality can be linked.
We know that it is at the beginning and at the end of our lives that our gut bacteria go through the biggest changes, and this latest study supports the idea that a constantly evolving stomach bacterium late in life is a good sign: a indication of an ever-flourishing body in the last years of life.
The study suggests that a healthy gut microbiome – whatever it is – may not look the same at different stages of life, and it is a useful way for future research to investigate. It seems that we can develop microbiomes in different ways in older people, and some of these developments may be healthier than others.
“This is an exciting work that we believe will have important clinical implications for monitoring and altering the health of a person’s gut microbiome throughout the life of a person,” said ISB bioengineer Nathan Price.
The research was published in Natural metabolism.