It’s no secret that aging is accompanied by changes in the gut microbiome: levels of beneficial microflora decrease, while harmful microflora increases. This leads to the accumulation of inflammatory metabolites, which accelerates the development of aging-related diseases.
To study changes in the gut microbiome, Chinese scientists used a co-housing experiment between young healthy adult mice and aged mice.
The aged mice exhibited age-related liver inflammation prior to co-housing, and their mRNA levels of inflammatory factors were significantly higher than those of the young mice. After ten weeks of co-housing, the aged mice exhibited lower mRNA levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, and Saa1, as well as a measure of liver lymphocyte infiltration.
It was also found that transferring the gut microbiome from older mice to young animals aged 3, 18, and 24 months accelerated intestinal barrier permeability, retinal inflammation, and central nervous system inflammation.