Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 24 pp 12080—12096
Age-related changes in microbial composition and function in cynomolgus macaques
- 1 NHC Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment on Brain Functional Diseases, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
- 2 The M.O.E. Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medical Diagnostics, The College of Laboratory Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
- 3 Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
- 4 Department of Neurology, Army Medical Center of PLA, Chongqing, China
Received: April 19, 2019 Accepted: November 19, 2019 Published: December 14, 2019
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.102541How to Cite
Copyright © 2019 Duan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Age can significantly affect human physiology and disease risk. Recent studies have shown that age may affect the composition and function of the gut microbiota, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Non-human primates are an ideal model for uncovering how age shapes the gut microbiota, as their microbial composition is highly similar to that of humans and is not easily affected by confounding factors. Here, using the 16S rRNA and metagenomic sequencing methods, we characterized the microbial phenotypes of 16 female cynomolgus macaques from three age groups (young, adult and old). Our findings revealed significant differences in microbial composition among the three groups. With increased age, the relative abundances of Veillonellaceae, Coriobacteriaceae and Succinivibrionaceae were significantly increased, Ruminococcaceae and Rikenellaceae were significantly decreased at the family level. Functional enrichment showed that genes that differed among the three groups were mainly involved in arginine biosynthesis, purine metabolism and microbial polysaccharides metabolism. Moreover, CAZymes corresponding to polysaccharide degrading activities were also observed among the three groups. In conclusion, we characterized the composition and function of the gut microbiota at different ages, and our findings provide a new entry point for understanding the effects of age on the human body.