Project description:Chronic inflammation has been shown to be associated with aging. In Drosophila melanogaster, age-related inflammation in the gut results in a disruption of gut barrier integrity, which can lead to reduced intestinal function and death. The anaerobic bacterium Parabacteroides distasonis (Pd) has anti-inflammatory properties and can attenuate tumorigenesis and promote intestinal barrier integrity in a mouse model of colorectal cancer. Here, we show that administration of Pd to adult Drosophila significantly increases mean lifespan and promotes maintenance of climbing ability throughout adult life. Furthermore, it enhances gut barrier integrity in aged adults. RNA-Seq analysis of Pd treated adult guts indicates that the enhanced healthspan is accompanied by transcriptional upregulation of genes involved in DNA replication and maintenance of genome integrity. These results suggest that Pd can induce a transcriptional shift towards augmented DNA repair in aging gut that prevents the breakdown of gut barrier integrity and promotes healthy aging.
Project description:The mammalian gastrointestinal tract contains a diverse ecosystem of microbial species collectively making up the gut microbiome. Emerging evidence highlights a critical relationship between gut microbiota and neurocognitive development. Consumption of unhealthy yet palatable dietary factors associated with obesity and metabolic dysfunction (e.g., saturated fat, added sugar) produces microbiota dysbiosis and negatively impacts neurocognitive function, particularly when consumed during early life developmental periods. Here we explore whether excessive early life consumption of added sugars negatively impacts neurocognitive development via the gut microbiome. Using a rodent model of habitual sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption during the adolescent stage of development, we first show that excessive early life sugar intake impairs hippocampal-dependent memory function when tested during adulthood while preserving other neurocognitive domains. Gut microbiome genomic sequencing analyses reveal that early life SSB consumption alters the abundance of various bacterial populations, including elevations in operational taxonomic units within the genus Parabacteroides (P. distasonis and P. johnsonii) whose abundance negatively correlated with memory task performance. Additional results reveal that in vivo Parabacteroides enrichment of cultured P. distasonis and P. johnsonii bacterial species in adolescent rats severely impairs memory function during adulthood. Hippocampus transcriptome analyses identify gene expression alterations in neurotransmitter synaptic signaling, intracellular kinase signaling, metabolic function, neurodegenerative disease, and dopaminergic synaptic signaling-associated pathways as potential mechanisms linking microbiome outcomes with memory impairment. Collectively these results identify microbiota dysbiosis as a mechanism through which early life unhealthy dietary patterns negatively impact neurocognitive outcomes.