Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly

Claesson et al. (2012) state that there is greater inter-individual variation in intestinal microbiota among older people than younger adults. Among an elderly population (n = 178), this study found a correlation between faecal microbiota composition and residence location, no matter whether it was in the community, day-hospital, rehabilitation or in long-term residential care. And when the sample was grouped by diet, participants were separated by the same residence location and microbiota groupings. When the subjects were separated by microbiota composition, significant associations with measures of frailty, comorbidity, nutritional status, markers of inflammation and with metabolites in faecal water were discovered. Absence of community-associated microbiota was related to increased frailty. There was also less diversity in the microbiota of those in long-stay care, compared with community dwellers. Diet, microbiota, and health status seem to be connected, which could signify the alteration of microbiota through diet may be relevant in the rate of declining health that accompanies aging. [NPID: microbiome, MGBA, gut-brain axis, gut microbiome, elderly, frailty, comorbidity, inflammation, aging]

Year: 2012

Reference: Claesson, M. J., Jeffery, I. B., Conde, S., Power, S. E., O'Connor, E. M., Cusack, S., Harris, H. M., Coakley, M., Lakshminarayanan, B., O'Sullivan, O., Fitzgerald, G. F., Deane, J., O'Connor, M., Harnedy, N., O'Connor, K., O'Mahony, D., van Sinderen, D., Wallace, M., Brennan, L., Stanton, C., … O'Toole, P. W. (2012). Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly. Nature, 488(7410), 178–184. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11319

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