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Gut microbiota changes in the extreme decades of human life: a focus on centenarians
- Source :
- Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2017.
-
Abstract
- The gut microbiota (GM) is a complex, evolutionarily molded ecological system, which contributes to a variety of physiological functions. The GM is highly dynamic, being sensitive to environmental stimuli, and its composition changes over the host’s entire lifespan. However, the basic question of how much these changes may be ascribed to variables such as population, diet, genetics and gender, and/or to the aging process per se is still largely unanswered. We argue that comparison among studies on centenarians—the best model of healthy aging and longevity—recruited from different geographical areas/populations (different genetics and dietary habits) can help to disentangle the contribution of aging and non-aging-related variables to GM remodeling with age. The current review focuses on the role of population, gender and host genetics as possible drivers of GM modification along the human aging process. The feedback impact of age-associated GM variation on the GM–brain axis and GM metabolomics is also discussed. We likewise address the role of GM in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and its possible therapeutic use, taking advantage of the fact that centenarians are characterized by an extreme (healthy) phenotype versus patients suffering from age-related pathologies. Finally, it is argued that longitudinal studies combining metagenomics sequencing and in-depth phylogenetic analysis with a comprehensive phenotypic characterization of centenarians and patients using up-to-date omics (metabolomics, transcriptomics and meta-transcriptomics) are urgently needed.
- Subjects :
- Male
0301 basic medicine
Aging
Gut–brain axis
Longevity
Population
Gut microbiota
Gut flora
Gut–brain axi
Transcriptome
03 medical and health sciences
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Multi-Author Review
Host genome
0302 clinical medicine
Metabolomics
Centenarians
Humans
Centenarian
education
Molecular Biology
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Pharmacology
Genetics
education.field_of_study
biology
Cell Biology
biology.organism_classification
Omics
Phenotype
Diet
Gastrointestinal Microbiome
3. Good health
Genetics, Population
030104 developmental biology
Metagenomics
Molecular Medicine
Female
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14209071 and 1420682X
- Volume :
- 75
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ae700279d457da4408bd56e9a21e9d8f