Scientists may have found a crappy way to reverse the effects of ageing

• Scientists have reversed the effects of ageing by putting young mouse poop in old mice.
• The experiment reversed the key signs of ageing in the guts, eyes, and brains of older mice.
• Earlier, Indian-origin doctor, Diljeet Gill used a new technique to make skin cells younger.

The scientists from Quadram Institute have provided evidence from research, that transplanting faecal microbiota from young to old mice can reverse ageing signs in the eyes, gut, and brain of older mice.

Professor Simon Carding, Head of the Gut Microbes and Health Research Programme said, “this groundbreaking study provides tantalizing evidence for the direct involvement of gut microbes in ageing and the functional decline of brain function and vision and offers a potential solution in the form of gut microbe replacement therapy.”

According to these new findings we can assume, that gut microbes play a critical role in regulating ageing effects and open different pathways to explore gut microbe potential in anti-ageing therapies.

The research is published in the journal Microbiome.

Further, research showed, that moving gut microbes from the poop of aged mice into younger mice showed the signs of ageing including inflammation and disturbed vision. It also showed a loss of integrity in the gut lining which can pass bacteria into the bloodstream. Age-related chronic inflammation- inflammaging were also activated in younger mice.

The team is also working to understand how long positive effects can last and how components of the younger donor microbiota can impact organs distant from the gut. In addition, to facilitate such research, a new facility for Microbiota Replacement Therapy is being built in the Quadram Institue.

Dr Aimee Parker, the lead author of the study said “we were excited to find that by changing the gut microbiota of elderly individuals, we could rescue indicators of age-associated decline commonly seen in degenerative conditions of the eye and brain. Our results provide more evidence of the important links between microbes in the gut and the healthy ageing of tissues and organs around the body. We hope that our findings will contribute ultimately to understanding how we can manipulate our diet and our gut bacteria to maximize good health in later life.”

Earlier, Indian-origin doctor, Diljeet Gill a postdoctoral candidate at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge used a new technique to make skin cells younger. The research included ‘maturation phase transient reprogramming’ to fibroblasts which is a common type of skin cell. The team took skin cells from middle-aged donors and once the research was completed, older skin cells were compared to younger skin cells from donors aged 20 to 22. They found skin cells were similar to younger cells, genetically and chemically.

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