Division of Immunology International Institute of Infection and Immunity, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, China.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
mSphere. 2020 Feb 26;5(1):e00558-19. doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00558-19.
Human body microbes interact with the host, forming microbial communities that are in continual flux during the aging process. Previous studies have mostly focused on surveying a single body habitat to determine the age-related variation in the bacterial and fungal communities. A more comprehensive understanding of the variation in the human microbiota and mycobiota across multiple body habitats related to aging is still unclear. To obtain an integrated view of the spatial distribution of microbes in a specific Mediterranean population across a wide age range, we surveyed the bacterial and fungal communities in the skin, oral cavity, and gut in the young, elderly, and centenarians in Sardinia using 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) sequencing. We found that the distribution and correlation of bacterial and fungal communities in Sardinians were largely determined by body site. In each age group, the bacterial and fungal communities found in the skin were significantly different in structure. In the oral cavity, age had a marginal impact on the structures of the bacterial and fungal communities. Furthermore, the gut bacterial communities in centenarians clustered separately from those of the young and elderly, while the fungal communities in the gut habitat could not be separated by host age. Site-specific microbial communities are recognized as important factors in host health and disease. To better understand how the human microbiota potentially affects and is affected by its host during the aging process, the fundamental issue to address is the distribution of microbiota related to age. Here, we show an integrated view of the spatial distribution of microbes in a specific Mediterranean population (Sardinians) across a wide age range. Our study indicates that age plays a critical role in shaping the human microbiota in a habitat-dependent manner. The dynamic age-related microbiota changes we observed across multiple body sites may provide possibilities for modulating microbe communities to maintain or improve health during aging.
人体微生物与宿主相互作用，形成微生物群落，这些群落在衰老过程中不断变化。以前的研究大多集中在调查单个身体栖息地，以确定与年龄相关的细菌和真菌群落的变化。对与衰老相关的多个身体栖息地中人类微生物组和真菌组的变化有更全面的了解仍然不清楚。为了全面了解特定地中海人群中微生物在广泛年龄范围内的空间分布，我们使用 16S rRNA 基因和内部转录间隔区 1（ITS1）测序，调查了撒丁岛年轻人、老年人和百岁老人的皮肤、口腔和肠道中的细菌和真菌群落。我们发现，撒丁岛人的细菌和真菌群落的分布和相关性主要由身体部位决定。在每个年龄组中，皮肤中发现的细菌和真菌群落在结构上有很大的不同。在口腔中，年龄对细菌和真菌群落的结构只有边际影响。此外，百岁老人的肠道细菌群落与年轻人和老年人的肠道细菌群落聚类分开，而肠道生境中的真菌群落不能根据宿主年龄分开。特定部位的微生物群落被认为是宿主健康和疾病的重要因素。为了更好地了解人类微生物组在衰老过程中如何潜在地影响和受其宿主影响，需要解决的基本问题是与年龄相关的微生物组的分布。在这里，我们展示了一个特定的地中海人群（撒丁岛人）在广泛年龄范围内的微生物空间分布的综合视图。我们的研究表明，年龄以依赖于栖息地的方式在塑造人类微生物组方面起着关键作用。我们在多个身体部位观察到的与年龄相关的动态微生物群变化可能为调节微生物群落以维持或改善衰老过程中的健康提供了可能性。
