Project description:Aging is associated with declining immunity and inflammation as well as alterations in the gut microbiome with a decrease of beneficial microbes and increase in pathogenic ones. The aim of this study was to investigate aging associated gut microbiome in relation to immunologic and metabolic profile in a non-human primate (NHP) model. 12 old (age>18 years) and 4 young (age 3-6 years) Rhesus macaques were included in this study. Immune cell subsets were characterized in PBMC by flow cytometry and plasma cytokines levels were determined by bead based multiplex cytokine analysis. Stool samples were collected by ileal loop and investigated for microbiome analysis by shotgun metagenomics. Serum, gut microbial lysate and microbe-free fecal extract were subjected to metabolomic analysis by mass-spectrometry. Our results showed that the old animals exhibited higher inflammatory biomarkers in plasma and lower CD4 T cells with altered distribution of naïve and memory T cell maturation subsets. The gut microbiome in old animals had higher abundance of Archaeal and Proteobacterial species and lower Firmicutes than the young. Significant enrichment of metabolites that contribute to inflammatory and cytotoxic pathways was observed in serum and feces of old animals compared to the young. We conclude that aging NHP undergo immunosenescence and age associated alterations in the gut microbiome that has a distinct metabolic profile.
Project description:The gastric barrier plays a major role in the maintanance of the distal intestinal microbiome composition. It has been shown before that the use of gastric acid suppression medication, such as proton pump inhibitors, are associated with distinctive alterations of the intestinal microbiome. Foremost, the invasion of predominantly oral bacteria, like Veillonella and Streptococcus species, were a resurring finding in previous reports.
Gastric cancer treatment includes the total or subtotal resection of the stomach which can influence the gastric acid production. However, the influence by alterations in gastric milieu after this treatment on the composition of the intestinal microbiome is not well studied.
Therefore, the intestinal microbiome of patients after total or subtotal gastrectomy and its influence on intestinal inflammation and gut permeability will be studied.
Project description:HuMiChip was used to analyze human oral and gut microbiomes, showing significantly different functional gene profiles between oral and gut microbiome. The results were used to demonstarte the usefulness of applying HuMiChip to human microbiome studies.