Abstract
In healthy adults microbial communities that colonise different regions of the human
colon contribute nutrients and energy to the host via the fermentation of non-digestible
dietary components in the large intestine. A delicate balance of microbial species
is required to maintain healthy metabolism and immune function. Disturbance in this
microbial balance can have negative consequences for health resulting in elevated
inflammation and infection, that are contributory factors in diabetes and cancer.
There is a growing awareness that the microbial balance in the colon may become increasingly
perturbed with aging and therefore hasten the onset of certain diseases. Societal
and dietary factors influence microbial community composition both in the short and
long term in the elderly (>65 years old) whilst immunosenescence may also be linked
to a perturbed distal gut microbiota and frailty in the elderly. Significant progress
has been made in defining some of the dominant members of the microbial community
in the healthy large intestine and in identifying their roles in metabolism. There
is therefore an urgent need for better awareness of the impact of diet, prebiotic
and probiotic strategies in driving human colonic microbial composition in order to
understand the possibilities for maintaining healthy gut function and well-being in
an increasingly elderly population. Here we review gut microbial changes associated
with aging and how diet, prebiotics and probiotics may modulate the gut microbiota
to maintain health in the elderly.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 04, 2013
Accepted:
February 15,
2013
Received:
February 8,
2013
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
