Binyamin Dana, Turjeman Sondra, Asulin Nofar, Schweitzer Ron, Koren Omry
Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel.
MIGAL - Galilee Research Institute, Kiryat Shmona, Israel.
NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2025 Aug 25;11(1):173. doi: 10.1038/s41522-025-00811-w.
Aging involves changes in the gut microbiome impacting health and longevity; however, the roles of specific microbial metabolites remain understudied. Here, we examine the microbial contribution to the metabolic profile in aged mice. Fecal samples were collected from female Swiss-Webster mice raised conventionally (Conv) or germ free (GF), at 8 weeks (young) and 18 (aged) months of age, and the microbiome and metabolome were characterized. Significant differences were observed in bacterial composition and its predicted functional activity between young and aged mice. Interestingly, we found more age-related differences in metabolite abundances among Conv mice than GF mice, highlighting the contribution of the microbiome to aging. Moreover, microbiome-associated metabolites, predominantly lipids, were higher in aged mice, with linoleic acid metabolism enriched in this group. Our study underscores a microbiome-dependent component to age-related metabolic changes in mice, particularly in lipid-associated pathways, and contributes to the growing body of literature linking gut microbiota to host metabolism in aging.
衰老涉及肠道微生物群的变化，影响健康和寿命；然而，特定微生物代谢产物的作用仍未得到充分研究。在此，我们研究了微生物对老年小鼠代谢谱的贡献。从常规饲养（Conv）或无菌（GF）的雌性瑞士韦伯斯特小鼠中收集粪便样本，分别在8周龄（年轻）和18月龄（老年）时采集，对微生物群和代谢组进行了表征。在年轻和老年小鼠之间，观察到细菌组成及其预测的功能活性存在显著差异。有趣的是，我们发现常规饲养小鼠中代谢物丰度的年龄相关差异比无菌小鼠更多，突出了微生物群对衰老的影响。此外，与微生物群相关的代谢产物，主要是脂质，在老年小鼠中含量更高，该组中富含亚油酸代谢。我们的研究强调了小鼠衰老相关代谢变化中微生物群依赖的成分，特别是在脂质相关途径中，并为将肠道微生物群与衰老宿主代谢联系起来的文献不断增加做出了贡献。
