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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Dave Houghton, Professor Christopher StewartORCiD, Dr Craig Stamp, Professor Anil Wipat, Professor Mike TrenellORCiD, Emeritus Professor Doug Turnbull, Professor Laura GreavesORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Mitochondrial dysfunction is prevalent in the aging gastrointestinal tract. We investigated whether mitochondrial function in aging colonic crypts and exercise influences microbial gut communities in mice. Twelve PolgAmut/mut mice were randomly divided into a sedentary and exercise group at 4 months. Seven-aged matched PolgA+/+ mice remained sedentary throughout. Stool samples were collected at 4, 7, and 11 months, and bacterial profiling was achieved through 16S rRNA sequencing profiling. Mitochondrial enzyme activity was assessed in colonic epithelial crypts at 11 months for PolgAmut/mut and PolgA+/+ mice. Sedentary and exercised PolgAmut/mut mice had significantly higher levels of mitochondrial dysfunction than PolgA+/+ mice (78%, 77%, and 1% of crypts, respectively). Bacterial profiles of sedentary PolgAmut/mut mice were significantly different from the sedentary PolgA+/+ mice, with increases in Lactobacillus and Mycoplasma, and decreases in Alistipes, Odoribacter, Anaeroplasma, Rikenella, Parabacteroides, and Allobaculum in the PolgAmut/mut mice. Exercise did not have any impact upon gut mitochondrial dysfunction; however, exercise did increase gut microbiota diversity and significantly increased bacterial genera Mucispirillum and Desulfovibrio. Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with changes in the gut microbiota. Endurance exercise moderated some of these changes, establishing that environmental factors can influence gut microbiota, despite mitochondrial dysfunction.
Author(s): Houghton D, Stewart CJ, Stamp C, Nelson A, Ajami NJ, Petrosino JF, Wipat A, Trenell MI, Turnbull DM, Greaves LC
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: The Journals of Gerontology: Series A
Year: 2017
Volume: 73
Issue: 5
Pages: 571-578
Print publication date: 01/05/2018
Online publication date: 16/10/2017
Acceptance date: 13/10/2017
Date deposited: 27/11/2017
ISSN (print): 1079-5006
ISSN (electronic): 1758-535X
Publisher: Oxford University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glx197
DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glx197
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