The Microbiome in Aging: Impact on Health and Wellbeing
Abstract A comprehensive understanding of the processes that affect aging is needed to increase the health and quality of life of a globally aging population. Changes in physiology and lifestyle in old age typically lead to the consumption of a less diverse diet, rich in sugars and fats and low in fiber, which contributes to a lower intestinal microbiota diversity and slower intestinal transit. A decrease in the abundance of bifidobacteria and other groups with antiinflammatory properties together with an increase in the abundance of facultative anaerobes and so called pathobionts has been associated with frailty in the elderly. In addition, a reduction in colonic short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production and amino acid biosynthetic capabilities is accompanied by a shift toward a more proteolytic and putrefactive metabolism. Further studies will clarify how the microbiome influences aging; how it interacts with the immune system; and how diet, probiotics, prebiotics, and other modulation strategies can be used to influence the microbiota and promote healthy aging.