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Fig. 3 | Immunity & Ageing

Fig. 3

From: Gut microbiota as the key controllers of “healthy” aging of elderly people

Fig. 3

Gut dysbiosis in the elderly increases risk of aging-associated diseases. The composition of the gut microbiota changes with age, causing a mild inflammation in the elderly. This change can be exacerbated by additional intrinsic and extrinsic factors, such as uptake of antibiotics and diet. Frail elderly people show increased gut dysbiosis, a severe decrease of beneficial commensal bacteria, such as Akkermansia muciniphila and SCFA-producing bacteria, and a marked increase of opportunistic and potentially proinflammatory commensal microbes. It leads to impairment of the intestinal epithelial integrity and increases gut leakiness and translocation of opportunistic bacteria and endotoxin into the circulation, causing a chain of inflammatory events that enhance the risk of developing aging-associated pathologies. For instance, in aged mice, the A. muciniphila loss-caused inflammation recruits and activates CCR2+ monocytes in the omentum, where they upregulate 4-1BB, CD40L and the production of IFNγ and convert B1a B cells into 4BL cells via 4-1BBL/4-1BB axis. The 4BL cells then promote insulin resistance in aged hosts

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