Declines in brain function are common with age owing to metabolic and immune alterations that include changes to the gut microbiota, the community of microorganisms that inhabit the intestines. While a diverse microbial community with many species of beneficial bacteria is associated with improved nutrition and reduced inflammation, older adults (especially residents of long-term care facilities) have perturbations in microbiota composition that increase the risk for cognitive decline and frailty. Findings of a report released this month show that fecal microbiota transplantation from young to aged mice reverses age-associated cognitive impairment.

Fecal microbiota transplantation is a therapy in which microbes are isolated from the stool of a donor, processed, filtered, and administered to a recipient by nasogastric tube or enema. Previous research demonstrates the efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation in treating infection with Clostridium difficile, a hospital-acquired infection that is difficult to treat with antibiotics, and a growing list of other diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, metabolic syndrome, neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism), and autoimmune diseases. Fecal microbiota transplantation improves health partially by increasing microbiota alpha diversity, meaning the number of species in an individual’s microbiota, also called “richess.” A microbiota with high richness is more likely to contain key beneficial species, such as those that produce neuroprotective short chain fatty acids.

Given the wide range of diseases associated with gastrointestinal microbiota composition, its effects on aging are an area of intense interest. Prior investigations have demonstrated that transfer of the fecal microbiota from aged mice to young mice alters immunity, neurogenesis, and cognition; however, the consequence of fecal transplantation from young mice to aged mice is unknown.

The investigators performed their experiment using young and aged male mice. They assigned aged mice to receive a fecal microbiota transplant from either a young mouse (the experimental group) or aged mouse (the control group). For further comparison, the researchers also assigned a group of young mice to receive a fecal microbiota transplant from another young mouse. Mice received the fecal microbiota transplant treatments once per day for three days, then twice weekly for four weeks. The mice completed a battery of tests to assess cognitive function. The researchers collected fecal samples in order to sequence the DNA of the microbiota and blood samples in order to measure hormones, cytokines, and other immune markers before and after the four weeks of treatment. Finally, they analyzed changes to gene expression and metabolism in the hippocampus, the brain region most-associated with age-related cognitive decline.

At baseline, young and aged mice had distinctly different microbiota composition. Following four weeks of microbiota transplantation, young mice, aged mice receiving a young transplant, and aged mice receiving an aged transplant all had similar microbiota composition. Aged mice tended to have more over-reactive T cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages, especially in the lymph nodes that line the intestines. Aged mice also showed enlargement of microglia (the predominant immune cells in the brain), a common feature of neurodegenerative diseases. Microbiota transplantation from young mice reversed these age-related effects on brain and peripheral immunity. Amino acid metabolism in the hippocampus, which is necessary for neurotransmission and cognition, was impaired in aged mice, but restored following microbiota transplantation from young mice. Finally, the improved hippocampal metabolism in aged mice that received a young microbiota transplant translated to increased learning and long-term memory and reduced anxiety-related behaviors compared to aged mice receiving an aged microbiota transplant.

These results reveal the potential benefits of fecal microbiota transplantation from young donors as a therapy to promote healthy aging.

• Link to full publication.
• Learn more about how the gut microbiome regulates immune cell types in this video featuring Dr. Rhonda Patrick.