Posted on 05/05/2022 at 5:25 p.m.,
Reading 2 mins.
in collaboration with
Dr Christophe de Jaeger (Longevity and geriatrics)
Medical validation:
May 05, 2022
According to English researchers, transplanting faecal microbiota from young mice to older mice would reverse the aging process. An “exciting” advance according to Dr. Christophe de Jaeger, physiologist and specialist in aging.
What if in the near future, a change in your microbiota would allow you to look younger? In any case, this is the promising idea of a study published in the journal Microbiome. According to the researchers, the modification of the intestinal microbiota – via fecal transplants – would slow down the aging of the brain, eyes or even the intestines.
Fecal transplants reduce inflammation in the body
For many years, the intestinal microbiota has fascinated researchers.
Composed of billions of microorganisms evolving in communities within the digestive tract, it plays a decisive role in our health and could even prevent certain diseases.
It is in this context that researchers from the Quadram Institute and the University of East Anglia modified the intestinal microbiota of young and old mice, in order to observe how this change affected their biological signs.
To do this, they swapped the gut microbiota of 3-month-old, 18-month-old, and 24-month-old mice using fecal transplantation.
Quite quickly after the transplants, the researchers noticed that the intestinal microbiota of the old mice began to resemble those of the younger ones and vice versa.
“Transferring microbiota from aged donors into young mice accelerates age-associated central nervous system (CNS) inflammation, retinal inflammation, and cytokine signaling and promotes the loss of key functional proteins in the eye ( …). Conversely, these harmful effects can be reversed by the transfer of microbiota from young donors”can we read in the study.
The younger mice developed brain inflammation and telltale signs of vision problems.
The microbiota could prevent and cure certain diseases
For Professor Simon Cardin, head of the research program on intestinal microbes and health at the Quadram Institute, this study is revolutionary because it “provides compelling evidence for the direct involvement of gut microbes in aging and functional decline of the brain and vision“.
This replacement for “intestinal microbes” could eventually be tested in humans. The goal? Prevent and treat certain disorders related to aging.
“This study reinforces interest around microbial balance, although further work in humans is needed. The science of the microbiota has not yet reached a sufficient stage of maturity to use it with certainty. However, it remains a very exciting track.“, confirms Dr. Christophe de Jaeger.