The latest research finds that the secret to the longevity of centenarians lies in their intestinal microorganisms?

Let's talk about aging today. Think about it, when did you feel aging? You might say that you found more wrinkles and gray hair when you stood in front of the mirror; you might also say that you found that you couldn't stay up late, you were out of breath when you climbed the stairs, etc. In fact, the phenomenon of aging may have been reflected in our intestinal microorganisms long ago.

Centenarians' gut microbiomes are different

In recent years, there have been a lot of research data showing that the biological characteristics of the intestinal microbiome can reflect the overall health, immunity, metabolism, and aging of the human body. At the same time, intestinal microorganisms are related to many health problems, including obesity, metabolic disorders, inflammation, cancer, and depression. The dynamic changes and biological characteristics of the intestinal microbiome may also indicate the direction of changes in physical health. As people age, the intestinal microbiome in the human body will also change. Changes in intestinal microorganisms are both an important cause of aging and a result of aging.

Although previous studies have identified a link between gut microbes and lifespan, these studies were either limited in cohort size or lacked sufficiently long-term follow-up or stable long-term environmental controls. Therefore, we hope to see more detailed cohort comparisons, larger sample sizes, and longer follow-up studies, especially the gut microbiome characteristics and aging patterns of centenarians, to clarify the relationship between the gut microbiome and lifespan.

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On April 6, 2023, an article published in Nature Aging by Wang Shuai, Luo Weifei and their collaborative teams and institutions from the Guangxi Academy of Sciences' Big Health Industry Research Institute, "The longevity of centenarians is reflected in the characteristics of the gut microbiome related to young people", further explored the characteristics of the gut microbiome of centenarians that may be related to longevity, and partially answered our doubts about the relationship between aging and gut microbes. Let's briefly introduce this study.

The study involved 1,575 volunteers aged 20-117. After studying the intestinal microbiota of 297 centenarians, scientists found that the intestinal microbiota of centenarians had similar characteristics to those of young people. These characteristics include: Bacteroides is the dominant type of intestinal microorganisms; the distribution of various types of microorganisms is relatively even; beneficial Bacteroidetes are enriched; and there are few pathogenic bacteria.

Throughout the human life cycle, the gut microbiome follows some age-related patterns. Between birth and three years of age, the types and characteristics of the gut microbiome change rapidly. They gradually stabilize in middle age, and then begin to change rapidly again in old age. Similar to fingerprints, no two people have exactly the same gut microbes, but everyone has a group of common microbes at different ages, accounting for about 30% of the total gut microbiome.

In this study, researchers collected stool samples and health information from centenarians aged 100-117 and a control group of adults aged 20-44, 45-65, 66-85, and 90-99, and performed 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing to identify the characteristics of the gut microbiome.

The results showed that four different enterotypes were identified in the intestinal microbiome of the subjects, among which centenarians showed unique enterotype characteristics, which was a combination of Bacteroides and Escherichia coli-Shigella. In young people (20-44 years old) and other elderly people, there was only one of the species, not a combination. The traditional enterotype is a classification of three enterotypes proposed by Professor Pierberke in 2011: Bacteroides, Prevotella, and Ruminococus. Although many studies have questioned the enterotype theory since then, this study seems to prove the existence of enterotypes from one side.

Getting a better gut microbiome is crucial

So what do we think of the findings of this study? First of all, the diversity of bacterial genus and the dominance of beneficial bacteria in the intestinal microbiota of centenarians are likely to help offset the physical diseases and aging brought about by aging, so they are more likely to be healthy and live longer. In other words, the intestinal microbiota with longevity characteristics reduces the susceptibility of centenarians to chronic diseases and cancer. However, due to the large number and variety of microbiota, the specific mechanism of influence needs further exploration.

At the same time, it also reminds us of a previous study. In August 2021, researchers from the APC Microbiome Research Center at University College Cork in Ireland also published a paper titled "Microbiota from young mice offset age-related behavioral deficits" in the journal Nature Aging. The conclusion of that study was that transplanting the intestinal flora of young mice to old mice could offset the aging-related cognitive changes in the brains of old mice to a certain extent.

Since intestinal microbes are so useful, how can we get better intestinal microbes? Here are a few suggestions: eat 70% full + high dietary fiber; use antibiotics with caution; use probiotics and prebiotics tailored to individuals.

In summary, more and more studies have shown that intestinal microbes may be a decisive factor in health and aging. Future research will continue to explore the performance and impact of human intestinal microbes in animal research models. It is hoped that in the near future, humans can find more ways to extend life and improve health.

This article is a work supported by Science Popularization China Starry Sky Project

Author: Tiangeng

Reviewer: Tao Ning (Associate Researcher, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Produced by: China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Producer: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.