2017-07-16 16:50:51
Recent studies suggest that our beloved intestinal flora could be a rich source of probiotic products capable of effectively delaying aging. The hundreds of bacterial species that populate the intestine generate essential substances for the proper functioning of the organism that hosts them. In addition, changes in the flora of elderly people have been observed that negatively affect their health, and interventions to modify this flora have resulted in improvements in the condition of these people.
The study of the effects of individual bacterial species on aging cannot be done in humans, not even in laboratory mice. They are overly complex biological systems and affected by numerous genetic and environmental variables, and also by ethical considerations. A simpler system is needed, capable of being modified so that we can get only one species of bacteria, and only it, to populate the intestine of the animal in order to determine its effects unequivocally. What animal could we use to achieve this goal?
Fortunately, this animal exists and is commonly used in many laboratories. It is the tiny worm called Caernohabditis elegans, made up of exactly 1,031 cells in the case of the male and 959 cells in the case of the female. This little animal can be raised in completely sterile conditions in the laboratory, that is, in the absence of any bacteria or microorganism, to then allow its intestine to be colonized by a single species of bacteria.
A recent study, now conducted by researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, has used a collection of bacterial variants of the Escherichia coli species, which also inhabits our intestines.
The researchers let these worms grow and age with their intestines colonized by just one of the mutant bacteria in the collection and determined their longevity. In this way, scientists discover that 29 mutant variants of the E. coli bacterium are capable of extending the life of this animal by more than 10%, a proportion that in the case of the human species would mean extending life by around eight years. . In addition, a dozen of these bacterial variants protected the worm from the development of tumors and the accumulation of amyloid plaques typical of Alzheimer’s disease.
The analyzes carried out to find out which substances produced by the bacteria could be responsible for these effects discovered that five of these mutants generate the so-called cholanic acid, a complex carbohydrate that is excreted by the bacteria into the external environment.
Much remains to be studied before being able to use this or other compounds yet to be determined to extend life or improve health.
More information on Jorge Laborda’s Blog: Probiotics and longevity
Referencia: Han et al., Microbial Genetic Composition Tunes Host Longevity, Cell (2017),
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