Imagine if our gut was like a secret fountain of youth, helping us live long and healthy lives. Researchers studying individuals with exceptionally long lifespans found that their gut microbiota, the diverse community of microscopic organisms in the intestines, holds the key to their health and ability to stave off diseases. Using metagenomic sequencing, they compared the gut microbiota of long-living Chinese individuals (90+ years old), elderly adults (65-75 years old), and young adults (24-48 years old). The results showed that the gut microbiota of long-living individuals had higher diversity in gene composition and functional profiles compared to the other groups. They also had fewer variations among individuals and a lower abundance of certain pathogenic bacteria. Interestingly, long-living people had more bacteria capable of producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), known for their health benefits, and fewer genes related to riboflavin metabolism and tryptophan biosynthesis. These findings indicate that the gut microbiota of long-living individuals may contribute to healthy aging by producing SCFAs, metabolizing methane and CO2, and reducing potentially harmful bacteria. Notably, the gut microbiota composition differed between long-lived Chinese and Italian individuals, suggesting that factors such as diet and environment influence gut health. If you want to learn more about how our gut microbiota affects longevity, check out the full article!

Individuals with naturally long-life spans have been extensively studied to gain a greater understanding of what factors contribute to their overall health and ability to delay or avoid certain diseases. Our previous work showed that gut microbiota can be a new avenue in healthy aging studies. In the present study, a total of 86 Chinese individuals were assigned into three groups: the long-living group (90 + years old; n = 28), the elderly group (65–75 years old; n = 31), and the young group (24–48 years old; n = 27). These groups were used to explore the composition and functional genes in the microbiota community by using the metagenomic sequencing method. We found that long-living individuals maintained high diversity in gene composition and functional profiles. Furthermore, their microbiota displays less inter-individual variation than that of elderly adults. In the taxonomic composition, it was shown that long-living people contained more short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria and a decrease in certain pathogenic bacteria. Functional analysis also showed that the long-living people were enriched in metabolism metabolites methanol, trimethylamine (TMA), and CO2 to methane, and lysine biosynthesis, but the genes related to riboflavin (vitamin B2) metabolism and tryptophan biosynthesis were significantly reduced in long-living individuals. Further, we found that long-living people with enriched SCFA- and lactic-producing bacteria and related genes, highly centered on producing key lactic acid genes (ldhA) and the genes of lysine that are metabolized to the butyrate pathway. In addition, we compared the gut microbiota signatures of longevity in different regions and found that the composition of the gut microbiota of the long-lived Chinese and Italian people was quite different, but both groups were enriched in genes related to methane production and glucose metabolism. In terms of SCFA metabolism, the Chinese long-living people were enriched with bacteria and genes related to butyric acid production, while the Italian long-living people were enriched with more acetic acid-related genes. These findings suggest that the gut microbiota of Chinese long-living individuals include more SCFA-producing bacteria and genes, metabolizes methanol, TMA, and CO2, and contains fewer pathogenic bacteria, thereby potentially contributing to the healthy aging of humans.

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