Microbial Products Affect the Hallmarks Of Aging: 1) Mitochondrial Function

[Mike Lustgarten]

The Hallmarks of Aging are well established, but what is less discussed is the impact of microbes and/or microbial products. The bacterial metabolite, LPS, increases during aging, and it negatively impacts mitochondrial function, thereby demonstrating a role for microbial products on one of the Hallmarks of Aging, mitochondrial dysfunction.

 

 

[Ron Put]

Interesting, thanks.

Even though humans have known that bacteria impacts their heath for a while, this is a field in its infancy.

Here is something I recently came across that may be of interest:

The microbiome: An emerging key player in aging and longevity

"Generally, in aged individuals, a decrease in Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, and

increase in Enterobacteriaceae are observed [39, 65, 66]. Such changes in the microbiome

structure are believed to result from changed lifestyle, dietary pattern, reduced mobility,

weakened immune strength, reduced intestinal functionality, changes in gut morphology, use of

medication, recurrent infections and more [27, 34, 35, 39, 61, 65, 67]. However, it is important to

note that these generalizations do not apply to certain aged groups from different geological

locations or genetic backgrounds [67, 68]. Interestingly, in centenarians and supercentenarians,

health-associated bacteria genera, including Bifidobacteria and Christensenella, are especially

abundant [69, 70]. Although these observations are correlative, studies in model organisms

support pro-longevity and pro-health effects of these microbes [71-73]. For example,

supplementation of Bifidobacteria to C. elegans resulted in reduced accumulation of lipofuscin, a

marker of aging, improved locomotor function and increased longevity [72]. Additionally,

transplantation of Christensenella to germ-free mice has been shown to amend obese-associated

microbiome and reduce weight gain...."