Researchers find that fecal transplants may improve age-related gut issues.The study, conducted on mice, has interesting real-world implications.Here, a gastroenterologist explains the findings and what they mean for the future of gut medicine.<\/p>\n
When we talk about the woes of aging, we quickly dive into brain health<\/a>, mobility, and age-related weight gain<\/a>, but easily leave out age-related gut health changes. Maybe it\u2019s the taboo nature of, well, poop, but like the rest of our bodies, our guts change over time. This may cause major issues that a probiotic may not be enough to fix. Now, according to new research, scientists believe poop transplants may help heal the guts of older people. <\/p>\n Meet the Expert: Jason Korenblit, M.D.<\/a>, a board-certified gastroenterologist and digestive health expert for JustAnswer. For the study<\/a>, researchers gave mice antibiotics to change the gut bacteria of young and old mice. The scientists then transferred stool (a procedure known as fecal microbiota transfer) from young mice to old mice and vice versa (though the study did not say, oftentimes feces are transferred to the colon<\/a> for this procedure). Next, researchers measured how well the swap worked by monitoring gene activity, cell division, and how well the gut healed after injury, including radiation damage. They also gave the mice specific bacteria, like Akkermansia muciniphila<\/a>, a bacterium that is known for its potential in treating metabolic disease and an imbalanced gut, to see its impacts. The study found that gut bacteria from young mice may restore the function of aging intestinal stem cells in older mice. So, when the mice with aging ICS received transplants from those of younger ones, their intestines healed faster and acted more like younger tissue. Researchers also transplanted old cells into young mice and found that they did not greatly negatively impact the young mice. The researchers identified that high levels of one specific bacterium, Akkermansia muciniphila, were linked to worse stem cell function in older mice, even though this bacterium is often thought of as \u201chealthy\u201d in other contexts. How may poop transplants impact age-related gut changes?<\/p>\n
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