Abstract
In humans, aging is characterized by the progressive decline in biological, physiological, and psychological functions, and is a major risk factor in the development of chronic diseases. Therefore, the development of strategies aimed at attenuating aging-related disorders and promoting healthy aging is critical. In a previous study, we have demonstrated that Lactobacillus plantarum TWK10 (TWK10), a probiotic strain isolated from Taiwanese pickled cabbage, improved muscle strength, exercise endurance, and overall body composition in healthy humans. In this study, the effect of TWK10 on the progression of age-related impairments was investigated in mice. We found that TWK10 not only enhanced muscle strength in young mice, but also prevented the aging-related loss of muscle strength in aged mice, which was accompanied by elevated muscle glycogen levels. Furthermore, TWK10 attenuated the aging-associated decline in learning and memory abilities, as well as bone mass. Further analyses of gut microbiota using next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the 16S rRNA gene showed that the pattern of gut microbial composition was clearly altered following 8 weeks of TWK10 administration. TWK10-treated mice also experienced an increase in short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria and higher overall levels of gut SCFA. Furthermore, TWK10 administration to some extent reversed the aging-associated accumulation of pathogenic bacterial taxa. In conclusion, TWK10 could be viewed as a potential therapeutic agent that attenuates aging-related disorders and provides health benefits by modulating the imbalance of gut microbiota.
Highlights
Aging is a progressive process associated with negative changes in the physical performance, body composition, learning and memory, social and psychological responses, joints, and metabolic regulation
A near-significant increase (P = 0.0584) in serum vitamin D levels was observed in A-TWK10 mice (Table 2). These results demonstrate that TWK10 administration showed a protective potential against age-related bone loss and improved bone quality in mice, which is consistent with a previous study investigating the effect of L. paracasei GKS6 and L. plantarum KM3 supplementation in ovariectomized senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8 (SAMP8) mice [29]
Our results indicate that TWK10 administration reduced the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio in aging mice compared to the A-Control group (Supplementary Figure 1A), this decrease was not statistically significant, which could be due to the small sample size used in our study
Summary
Aging is a progressive process associated with negative changes in the physical performance, body composition, learning and memory, social and psychological responses, joints, and metabolic regulation. Aging-associated decline in the functions of tissues and organs represents a major risk factor in the development of chronic disease [1]. Sarcopenia is generally defined as the progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength that occurs with aging [2, 3]. Muscle loss is closely correlated with an increased risk of falls and fractures, physical disability, poor quality of life, and death. Fat mass usually increases progressively with age, and is localized to the abdominal region. Accumulation of abdominal fat mass is closely related to the onset of metabolic disorders, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes [5]
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