Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, 3498838, Haifa, Israel.
Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel.
Geroscience. 2024 Apr;46(2):1477-1488. doi: 10.1007/s11357-023-00905-3. Epub 2023 Aug 23.
Microbiota composition has been linked to physical activity, health measures, and biological age, but a shared profile has yet to be shown. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between microbiota composition and measures of function, such as a composite measure of physical capacity, and biological age in midlife, prior to onset of age-related diseases. Seventy healthy midlife individuals (age 44.58 ± 0.18) were examined cross-sectionally, and their gut-microbiota profile was characterized from stool samples using 16SrRNA gene sequencing. Biological age was measured using the Klemera-Doubal method and a composition of blood and physiological biomarkers. Physical capacity was calculated based on sex-standardized functional tests. We demonstrate that the women had significantly richer microbiota, p = 0.025; however, microbiota diversity was not linked with chronological age, biological age, or physical capacity for either women or men. Men had slightly greater β-diversity; however, β-diversity was positively associated with biological age and with physical capacity for women only (p = 0.01 and p = 0.04; respectively). For women, an increase in abundance of Roseburia faecis and Collinsella aerofaciens, as well as genus Ruminococcus and Dorea, was significantly associated with higher biological age and lower physical capacity; an increase in abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila and genera Bacteroides and Alistipes was associated with younger biological age and increased physical capacity. Differentially abundant taxa were also associated with non-communicable diseases. These findings suggest that microbiota composition is a potential mechanism linking physical capacity and health status; personalized probiotics may serve as a new means to support health-promoting interventions in midlife. Investigating additional factors underlying this link may facilitate the development of a more accurate method to estimate the rate of aging.
微生物群落组成与身体活动、健康指标和生物年龄有关，但尚未发现它们之间存在共同特征。本研究旨在探讨微生物群落组成与功能指标（如身体综合能力指标）和中年时期生物年龄之间的关系，而此时尚未出现与年龄相关的疾病。本研究共纳入 70 名健康的中年个体（年龄 44.58±0.18 岁）进行横断面研究，使用 16SrRNA 基因测序技术从粪便样本中对其肠道微生物群特征进行分析。使用 Klemera-Doubal 方法和血液及生理生物标志物组成来测量生物年龄。根据标准化的功能测试计算身体能力。研究结果表明，女性的微生物群落丰富度显著更高，p=0.025；然而，微生物多样性与女性或男性的年龄、生物年龄或身体能力均无关联。男性的β多样性稍高；然而，β多样性仅与女性的生物年龄和身体能力呈正相关（p=0.01 和 p=0.04；分别）。对于女性，Roseburia faecis 和 Collinsella aerofaciens 的丰度增加，以及 Ruminococcus 和 Dorea 属的丰度增加与生物年龄较大和身体能力较低相关； Akkermansia muciniphila 和 Bacteroides 属及 Alistipes 属丰度增加与生物年龄较小和身体能力较高相关。差异丰度的分类群也与非传染性疾病有关。这些发现表明，微生物群落组成是身体能力和健康状况之间的潜在关联机制；个性化益生菌可能成为支持中年促进健康干预的新手段。研究这一关联的其他因素可能有助于开发更准确的方法来估计衰老速度。
