The Secret to Human Longevity: Study Reveals Importance of Gut Bacteria and Viruses

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA—The secret to human longevity may be hidden in their stomachs. Scientists from the University of Copenhagen studied 176 centenarians Healthy Japan.

Reported from Daily Mail, Thursday (8/6/2023), centenarians is a rare population that reaches 100 years of age or more. The scientist found that they all had a mixture bacteria and viruses in their digestive tract.

The study suggests that certain viruses in the gut can benefit the microbiome in the gut, and, therefore, human health. While it’s impossible to change a person’s genetic predisposition, researchers speculate that they could change a person’s gut biome to include a unique mix. “We’ve always wanted to know why some people live so long,” said the study’s author, Joachim Johansen.

Johansen said previous research had shown that the gut bacteria of elderly Japanese citizens produced new molecules that made them immune to pathogenic – ie disease-causing – microorganisms. “And if their intestines are more protected from infection, then that may be one of the things that causes them to live longer than others,” he said.

The team developed an algorithm to map gut bacteria and para bacterial viruses centenarians. These results were then compared with a group of adults aged between 18 and 60 years.

Johansen said the team found “great biodiversity in bacteria and bacterial viruses” in centenarians.

“High microbial diversity is typically associated with a healthy gut microbiome. We hope that people with healthy gut microbiomes will be better protected against diseases associated with aging,” said Johansen.

He added that the information could be used to increase the life expectancy of others by engineering the microbiome to the optimal balance of viruses and bacteria to protect against disease. The team has learned that if a virus visits bacteria, Johansen says, it can actually strengthen the bacteria.

Furthermore, Johansen explained the virus that the team found on centenarians A healthy Japanese contains an extra gene that can increase bacteria. “We learned that they are able to enhance the transformation of certain molecules in the gut, which may serve to stabilize gut flora and counteract inflammation,” he said.

For example, the research paper says para centenarians exhibits a greater metabolic yield of microbial hydrogen sulfide, which can “support mucosal integrity and resistance to pathobionts”. Pathobionts are pathogens that originate in the gut. Mucosal integrity refers to the robustness of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract — the passage of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus.