Gut microorganisms may have a role in aging, according to scientists, and fecal transplants may be a means to slow down the aging process.
[RB]Our stomach may hold the key to perpetual youth. In mice, scientists discovered that a fecal transplant, often known as a stool transplant, can reverse the signs of aging. The procedure of introducing fecal bacteria and other microorganisms from a healthy donor into the gastrointestinal tract of a sick individual is known as fecal transplantation.
It’s been used to treat Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) and is now being explored for various gastrointestinal illnesses such as inflammation, autoimmune disorder, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, and neurological problems like multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s.
[RB]Scientists from the Quadram Institute and the University of East Anglia have now proposed that fecal transplants might be used to slow down the aging process.
They discovered that transplanting youthful fecal microbiota into old mice can repair age-related changes in the gut, eyes, and brain. Microbes from old mice, on the other hand, caused inflammation in the brains of young people and depleted a crucial protein needed for good eyesight.
[RB]According to the researchers, these data suggest that gut microorganisms may play a role in aging and that gut microbe-based therapy may aid in the prevention of deterioration in later life.
The gut microbiota has been linked to age-related diseases
Changes in gut microbiota composition as we become older have been linked to age-related illnesses such as inflammatory bowel disease, as well as cardiovascular, immunological, metabolic, and neurological diseases.
[RB]The researchers put gut microorganisms from old mice into healthy young mice and vice versa to learn how changes in the microbiome impact health.
They discovered that aged donor microbiota produced a breakdown in the stomach lining, allowing bacterial products to enter the bloodstream, triggering the immune system and causing inflammation in the brain and eyes.
[RB]Immune cells linked with age-related chronic inflammation, known as inflammageing, were over-activated in the brains of young mice that received aged microbiota transplants. Additionally, the researchers discovered that certain proteins linked to retinal degeneration were higher in the eyes of these young mice.
The gut microbiota of young mice was transplanted into aged mice, which corrected the negative alterations in the stomach, eye, and brain.
Quadram Institute has opened a new facility for fecal microbiota transplantation
[RB]Similar trials in older persons are planned by the researchers. The Quadram Institute is building a new facility for Microbiota Replacement Therapy (MRT), also known as Faecal Microbiota Transplantation, to support such studies and others for microbiota-related illnesses (FMT).
Dr. Aimee Parker of the Quadram Institute, the study’s lead author, believes that the findings will help “understand how we may control our food and gut flora to maximize better health in later life.”
