Early Signs of Gut Microbiome Aging: Biomarkers of Inflammation, Metabolism, and Macromolecular Damage in Young Adulthood
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: Emerging links between gut microbiota and diseases of aging point to possible shared immune, metabolic, and cellular damage mechanisms, operating long before diseases manifest. We conducted 16S rRNA sequencing of fecal samples collected from a subsample (n = 668) of Add Health Wave V, a nationally representative longitudinal study of adults aged 32-42. An overlapping subsample (n = 345) included whole-blood RNA-seq. We examined associations between fecal taxonomic abundances and dried blood spot-based markers of lipid and glucose homeostasis and C-reactive protein (measured in Wave IV), as well as gene expression markers of inflammation, cellular damage, immune cell composition, and transcriptomic age (measured in Wave V), using Bayesian hierarchical models adjusted for potential confounders. We additionally estimated a co-abundance network between inflammation-related genes and bacterial taxa using penalized Gaussian graphical models. Strong and consistent microbiota associations emerged for HbA1c, glucose, C-reactive protein, and principal components of genes upregulated in inflammation, DNA repair, and reactive oxygen species, with Streptococcus infantis, Pseudomonas spp., and Peptoniphilus as major players for each. This pattern was largely echoed (though attenuated) for immunological cell composition gene sets, and only Serratia varied meaningfully by transcriptomic age. Network co-abundance indicated relationships between Prevotella sp., Bacteroides sp., and Ruminococcus sp. and gut immune/metabolic regulatory activity, and Ruminococcus sp, Dialister, and Butyrivibrio crossotus with balance between Th1 and Th2 inflammation. In conclusion, many common associations between microbiota and major physiologic aging mechanisms are evident in early-mid adulthood and suggest avenues for early detection and prevention of accelerated aging.
Language: English
Topic: Gut microbiota and health
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Institutes of Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Awards: G1762564124, University of Colorado Population Center, G3511106470, Social Context, the Life Course, and Genetic Transcription in Add Health, The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, G4799827042, Add Health Parent Study: Phase I, G597551293, G6613980829, G6676629147, The Add Health Epigenome Resource: Life course stressors and epigenomic modifications in adulthood, Carolina Population Center, G7623829690, Social Demographic Moderation of Genome Wide Associations for Body Mass Index, G792356365, G9000042165, From Biological to Social Processes: Interdisciplinary Training in Life Course Research, UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility
OpenAlex ID: W3028504171