Gut microbiome pattern reflects healthy ageing and predicts survival in humans.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1-2021

Publication Title

Nat Metab

Keywords

washington; seattle; isb; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Amino Acids; Bacteroides; Cohort Studies; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Healthy Aging; Humans; Life Style; Male; Metabolomics; Middle Aged; Predictive Value of Tests; Survival Analysis; Young Adult

Abstract

The gut microbiome has important effects on human health, yet its importance in human ageing remains unclear. In the present study, we demonstrate that, starting in mid-to-late adulthood, gut microbiomes become increasingly unique to individuals with age. We leverage three independent cohorts comprising over 9,000 individuals and find that compositional uniqueness is strongly associated with microbially produced amino acid derivatives circulating in the bloodstream. In older age (over ~80 years), healthy individuals show continued microbial drift towards a unique compositional state, whereas this drift is absent in less healthy individuals. The identified microbiome pattern of healthy ageing is characterized by a depletion of core genera found across most humans, primarily Bacteroides. Retaining a high Bacteroides dominance into older age, or having a low gut microbiome uniqueness measure, predicts decreased survival in a 4-year follow-up. Our analysis identifies increasing compositional uniqueness of the gut microbiome as a component of healthy ageing, which is characterized by distinct microbial metabolic outputs in the blood.

Clinical Institute

Digestive Health

Department

Gastroenterology

Department

Epidemiology

Department

Institute for Systems Biology

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