The regular fecal microbial transplantation in Senescence Accelerated Mouse Prone 8 (SAMP8) mouse delayed the ageing of locomotor ability and exploration abilities
Recent research has shown that the gut microbiota plays a role in the ageing process. The specific changes and interventions are still unclear. In this study, Senescence-Accelerated Mouse-Prone 8 mice were divided into 4 groups: young-FMT group transplanted fecal bacteria from young donors (2-4degmonths) and old-FMT group transplanted microbiotas from older donors (10-11degmonths). The other two groups consisted of adult mice that received saline injections or mice untreated. All mice were treated from 7 months to 13 months. Open field tests at 9 and11degmonths showed that mice with gut microbiota transplanted from young donors were significantly more locomotory and exploratory than mice with old donor gut microbiota or those with saline controls, while being comparable to the blank control. The 16S rRNA genes sequencing revealed that the gut bacteria of recipient mice from young donors were altered at age 11degmonths, while the gut microbiome for recipient mice from old donors was changed at 9degmonths. Comparatively, recipient mice from the blank control group and the saline-control group showed changes in their gut microbiome by 10degmonths. The characteristic of the aging-related change in gut microbiome was an increase in relative abundance of Akkermansia. This was significantly higher for recipients transplanted with the feces of older donors compared to younger donors. This study shows fecal microbiota from younger donors can delay the aging-related decline in mice’s locomotory and exploration abilities by changing their gut microbiome.
The decline in physical and mental abilities is a part of aging, including the loss of locomotor and cognitive functions. This can lead to frailty, neurodegenerative disease, and other age related diseases that reduce the quality-of-life of the elderly population (Hou, et. al., 2018). Biomedical research has long focused on anti-aging and aging mechanisms, which are particularly important given our rapidly aging population.
The gut is an important organ for nutrients, metabolism and immunity. It contains hundreds of thousands of microorganisms, including their metabolites (Heintz & Mair, 2014), which interact with host tissues and cells (Huang, et. al., 2021). In our previous study, we reported that the gut microbiome was constantly changing in centenarians as they transitioned from a healthy state to death. Seven degmonths before death was when the most significant changes were observed in gut microbial community. This may indicate a turning point in significant changes to the gut microbiome in centenarians. Recent studies have shown a strong relationship between the gut microbial community and age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (Ticinesi, et. al., 2018, Haran, and McCormick 2021). This suggests that the gut microbial community plays an essential part in the aging processes.
Source:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.991157/full
