Ageing and gut microbes: perspectives for health maintenance and longevity.
The ageing process affects the human gut microbiota phylogenetic composition and its interaction with the immune system. Age-related gut microbiota modifications are associated with immunosenescence and inflamm-ageing in a sort of self-sustaining loop, which allows the placement of gut microbiota unbalances among both the causes and the effects of the inflamm-ageing process. Even if, up to now, the link between gut microbiota and the ageing process is only partially understood, the gut ecosystem shows the potential to become a promising target for strategies able to contribute to the health status of older people. In this context, the consumption of pro/prebiotics may be useful in both prevention and treatment of age-related pathophysiological conditions, such as recovery and promotion of immune functions, i.e. adjuvant effect for influenza vaccine, and prevention and/or alleviation of common "winter diseases", as well as constipation and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea. Moreover, being involved in different mechanisms which concur in counteracting inflammation, such as down-regulation of inflammation-associated genes and improvement of colonic mucosa conditions, probiotics have the potentiality to be involved in the promotion of longevity.
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Belmeloro 6, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
Elena
E
Biagi
Marco
M
Candela
Silvia
S
Turroni
Paolo
P
Garagnani
Claudio
C
Franceschi
Patrizia
P
Brigidi
D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity / Q000276:immunology*; D054892:Metagenome / Q000276:immunology*