The Microbiome in Aging: Impact on Health and Wellbeing

A comprehensive understanding of the processes that affect aging is needed to increase the health and quality of life of a globally aging population. Changes in physiology and lifestyle in old age typically lead to the consumption of a less-diverse diet, rich in sugars and fats and low in fiber, which contributes to a lower intestinal microbiota diversity and slower intestinal transit. A decrease in the abundance of bifidobacteria and other groups with antiinflammatory properties together with an increase in the abundance of facultative anaerobes and so-called pathobionts has been associated with frailty in the elderly. In addition, a reduction in colonic short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production and amino acid biosynthetic capabilities is accompanied by a shift toward a more proteolytic and putrefactive metabolism. Further studies will clarify how the microbiome influences aging; how it interacts with the immune system; and how diet, probiotics, prebiotics, and other modulation strategies can be used to influence the microbiota and promote healthy aging.