Probiotic Supplementation Improves Gut Microbiota in Chronic Metabolic and Cardio-Cerebrovascular Diseases Among Chinese Adults over 60: Study Using Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Cohorts

TL;DR

This study shows that probiotics can improve gut bacteria in older adults with chronic diseases like metabolic and cardio-cerebrovascular conditions.

Contribution

The study provides new evidence on how probiotics alter gut microbiota in older adults with chronic diseases through cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Findings

Probiotic supplementation increased lactobacilli and other beneficial bacteria in healthy and diseased groups.

Long-term probiotic use reduced harmful bacteria like Klebsiella in CMD and CCD groups.

Probiotics increased the proportion of a specific gut microbiota type (enterotype 1) in CMD and CCD groups.

Abstract

Probiotics demonstrate the ability to maintain intestinal homeostasis and promote gut health. However, their effects on gut microbiota in adults over 60 years old with chronic metabolic disease (CMD) or cardio-cerebrovascular disease (CCD) remain poorly understood. This study analyzed 1586 stool samples from 1377 adults (CMD, CCD, and healthy controls) using 16S rRNA sequencing. Cohort 1 (n = 1168) was used for cross-sectional analysis, while cohort 2 (n = 209) underwent longitudinal assessment over approximately 13 months. The results demonstrated that probiotics promoted significant gut microbiota alterations across both cohorts. Probiotic supplementation significantly increased lactobacilli in the CMD, CCD, and H groups. In both cohorts, probiotic supplementation enhanced Butyricicoccus, Clostridium sensu stricto 1, and Coprococcus in H groups, enhanced Anaerostipes and Fusicatenibacter in CMD groups, and reduced Haemophilus and Lachnospira in CCD groups. Notably, long-term supplementation not only elevated Dorea, Eubacterium hallii group, and Blautia in all groups but also suppressed Klebsiella and Bilophila in the CMD and CCD groups. Enterotype analysis revealed that probiotics increased the proportion of enterotype 1 and transition probabilities from enterotype 2 to 1 in the CMD and CCD groups, demonstrating that CCD/CMD gut microbiota exhibited greater responsiveness to probiotic modulation. Overall, this study suggests probiotics’ role in modulating adult gut microbiota and their potential benefits in chronic metabolic and cardio-cerebrovascular diseases.

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