Zhang Siyuan, Ning Ruihong, Zeng Bo, Deng Feilong, Kong Fanli, Guo Wei, Zhao Jiangchao, Li Ying
School of Laboratory Medicine/Sichuan Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Prevention and Control Technology of Veterinary Drug Residue in Animal-Origin Food, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Molecular Design and Precise Breeding, College of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan, China.
Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Jul 7;14:820108. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.820108. eCollection 2022.
Individuals with naturally long-life spans have been extensively studied to gain a greater understanding of what factors contribute to their overall health and ability to delay or avoid certain diseases. Our previous work showed that gut microbiota can be a new avenue in healthy aging studies. In the present study, a total of 86 Chinese individuals were assigned into three groups: the long-living group (90 + years old; = 28), the elderly group (65-75 years old; = 31), and the young group (24-48 years old; = 27). These groups were used to explore the composition and functional genes in the microbiota community by using the metagenomic sequencing method. We found that long-living individuals maintained high diversity in gene composition and functional profiles. Furthermore, their microbiota displays less inter-individual variation than that of elderly adults. In the taxonomic composition, it was shown that long-living people contained more short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria and a decrease in certain pathogenic bacteria. Functional analysis also showed that the long-living people were enriched in metabolism metabolites methanol, trimethylamine (TMA), and CO to methane, and lysine biosynthesis, but the genes related to riboflavin (vitamin B2) metabolism and tryptophan biosynthesis were significantly reduced in long-living individuals. Further, we found that long-living people with enriched SCFA- and lactic-producing bacteria and related genes, highly centered on producing key lactic acid genes () and the genes of lysine that are metabolized to the butyrate pathway. In addition, we compared the gut microbiota signatures of longevity in different regions and found that the composition of the gut microbiota of the long-lived Chinese and Italian people was quite different, but both groups were enriched in genes related to methane production and glucose metabolism. In terms of SCFA metabolism, the Chinese long-living people were enriched with bacteria and genes related to butyric acid production, while the Italian long-living people were enriched with more acetic acid-related genes. These findings suggest that the gut microbiota of Chinese long-living individuals include more SCFA-producing bacteria and genes, metabolizes methanol, TMA, and CO, and contains fewer pathogenic bacteria, thereby potentially contributing to the healthy aging of humans.
为了更深入了解哪些因素有助于整体健康以及延缓或避免某些疾病的能力,人们对自然寿命较长的个体进行了广泛研究。我们之前的研究表明,肠道微生物群可能是健康衰老研究的一个新途径。在本研究中,共86名中国个体被分为三组:长寿组(90岁及以上;n = 28)、老年组(65 - 75岁;n = 31)和青年组(24 - 48岁;n = 27)。通过宏基因组测序方法,利用这些组来探索微生物群落中的组成和功能基因。我们发现,长寿个体在基因组成和功能谱方面保持着高度多样性。此外,他们的微生物群个体间差异比老年人的要小。在分类组成方面,结果显示长寿人群含有更多产生短链脂肪酸(SCFA)的细菌,某些病原菌数量减少。功能分析还表明,长寿人群在代谢产物甲醇、三甲胺(TMA)和CO转化为甲烷以及赖氨酸生物合成方面富集,但与核黄素(维生素B2)代谢和色氨酸生物合成相关的基因在长寿个体中显著减少。此外,我们发现富含SCFA和乳酸产生菌及相关基因的长寿人群,高度集中在产生关键乳酸基因()以及代谢为丁酸途径的赖氨酸基因上。此外,我们比较了不同地区长寿人群的肠道微生物群特征,发现中国和意大利长寿人群的肠道微生物群组成差异很大,但两组在与甲烷产生和葡萄糖代谢相关的基因上都有富集。在SCFA代谢方面,中国长寿人群富含与丁酸产生相关的细菌和基因,而意大利长寿人群则富含更多与乙酸相关的基因。这些发现表明,中国长寿个体的肠道微生物群包含更多产生SCFA的细菌和基因,能代谢甲醇、TMA和CO,且含有较少病原菌,从而可能有助于人类的健康衰老。