The University of Zaragoza participates in the study that links the intestinal microbiota and longevity

The relationship between the intestinal microbiota and longevity is increasingly evident. A study published by the journal Nature Medicine shows that maintaining a healthy microbiota improves the health and life expectancy of mice with accelerated aging.

 

In this study, led by doctors Carlos López-Otín and Pedro Moral Quirós from the University of Oviedo, Nuria Garatachea, professor at the Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences and researcher from the GENUD group (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development) of the University of Zaragoza and, since November 2018, deputy general director of Women and Sports of the Higher Sports Council.

 

This research has also had the collaboration of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) of Paris, the Institute of Dairy Products of Asturias (IPLA-CSIC) and the European University of Madrid.

 

In this work, the research team has studied the microbiome of mice and patients with accelerated aging or progeria. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a rare disease that affects one person in four million, causes accelerated aging during childhood that ultimately leads to premature death of patients.

 

Researchers have shown that mice and patients with progeria present intestinal dysbiosis, an alteration in the intestinal microbiota that is increasingly common among the population as a consequence of current lifestyle and diet. "One of the objectives was to identify what alterations were present in the intestinal microbiota of mice and patients with progeria and to analyze whether the bacteria whose levels were altered played a harmful or beneficial role," says Carlos López-Otín from Aragon in the note. press issued by the University of Oviedo.

 

"Likewise," López-Otín continues, "we also analyzed the microbiota of Spanish centenarians, identifying an increase in beneficial bacteria such as Akkermansia muciniphila, which was also decreased in mice with progeria. 

 

Precisely, Nuria Garatachea recognizes that "the GENUD group at the University of Zaragoza has been working for some time on the role of physical exercise on longevity in general and specifically on people with extreme longevity such as centenarians." (See Elite athletes live longer than the general population).

 

“In fact, this work is an extension of our line of work in collaboration with Dr. López-Otín as well as other collaborations that are part of multidisciplinary research teams,” says the researcher specialized in Physiology of physical exercise, physical activity and health. .

 

For his part, Pedro M. Quirós explains that "the regulation of the intestinal microbiota through transplants or probiotics is one of the most promising lines of research for the treatment of certain human diseases, especially those related to metabolic disorders. However, "Its possible application in diseases related to aging had not yet been explored."

 

In this sense, the research team has shown that transplantation of fecal microbiota from healthy mice or treatment with probiotic bacteria Akkermansia muciniphila extends the life of mice with accelerated aging.

 

As explained by Clea Bárcena, first signatory of the work, "the replacement of the endogenous microbiota of mice with progeria with microbiota from healthy mice improved various metabolic parameters in addition to extending life expectancy; on the other hand, healthy mice that received a transplant with microbiota from mice with progeria showed metabolic alterations such as weight gain and blood glucose levels. 

 

This work demonstrates that the correction of intestinal dysbiosis through microbiota transplantation could be used as a future therapy in diseases related to aging. In fact, as José MP Freije points out, "fecal microbiota transplantation is the most effective method for recurrent infections of Clostridium difficile, so it is expected that its use can be extended to other pathologies."