Saturday, January 22, 2022

On the microbiome of centenarians

What are your chances to become 100 years old and still be healthy?

More research on centenarians would be welcomed!

"... The team found that the microbiomes of centenarians differed from the other two [age] groups. Centenarian microbiomes had more Proteobacteria and Synergistetes and fewer Actinobacteria species than microbiomes in the other two cohorts. But what Honda found much more intriguing were the results of a metagenome analysis, which revealed increased abundance of bile-acid-inducible genes in the 100-year-old-plus age group. Some bile acids play a role in host metabolic and immune responses, including blocking pathogens such as Clostridium difficile from colonizing the intestines. ..."

From the abstract:
"... Here we show that centenarians have a distinct gut microbiome that is enriched in microorganisms that are capable of generating unique secondary bile acids, including various isoforms of lithocholic acid (LCA): iso-, 3-oxo-, allo-, 3-oxoallo- and isoallolithocholic acid. Among these bile acids, the biosynthetic pathway for isoalloLCA had not been described previously. By screening 68 bacterial isolates from the faecal microbiota of a centenarian, we identified Odoribacteraceae strains as effective producers of isoalloLCA both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, we found that the enzymes 5α-reductase (5AR) and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSDH) were responsible for the production of isoalloLCA. IsoalloLCA exerted potent antimicrobial effects against Gram-positive (but not Gram-negative) multidrug-resistant pathogens, including Clostridioides difficile and Enterococcus faecium. ..."

Gut Bugs May Help Centenarians Reach Their 100th Birthdays Centenarians have distinct microbiomes with species that produce unique bile acids, which may help thwart illness.

Novel bile acid biosynthetic pathways are enriched in the microbiome of centenarians | Nature


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