Cited by 160Probiotics and Fermented FoodsGut microbiota and healthInfant Nutrition and Health

Functional Dynamics of the Gut Microbiome in Elderly People during Probiotic Consumption

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Eloe-Fadrosh, Emiley A., Brady, Arthur, Crabtree, Jonathan, Drabek, Elliott F., Ma, Bing, Mahurkar, Anup, Ravel, Jacques, Haverkamp, Miriam +5 more·2015·mBio

Abstract

A mechanistic understanding of the purported health benefits conferred by consumption of probiotic bacteria has been limited by our knowledge of the resident gut microbiota and its interaction with the host. Here, we detail the impact of a single-organism probiotic, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG ATCC 53103 (LGG), on the structure and functional dynamics (gene expression) of the gut microbiota in a study of 12 healthy individuals, 65 to 80 years old. The analysis revealed that while the overall community composition was stable as assessed by 16S rRNA profiling, the transcriptional response of the gut microbiota was modulated by probiotic treatment. Comparison of transcriptional profiles based on taxonomic composition yielded three distinct transcriptome groups that displayed considerable differences in functional dynamics. The transcriptional profile of LGG in vivo was remarkably concordant across study subjects despite the considerable interindividual nature of the gut microbiota. However, we identified genes involved in flagellar motility, chemotaxis, and adhesion from Bifidobacterium and the dominant butyrate producers Roseburia and Eubacterium whose expression was increased during probiotic consumption, suggesting that LGG may promote interactions between key constituents of the microbiota and the host epithelium. These results provide evidence for the discrete functional effects imparted by a specific single-organism probiotic and challenge the prevailing notion that probiotics substantially modify the resident microbiota within nondiseased individuals in an appreciable fashion. IMPORTANCE Probiotic bacteria have been used for over a century to promote digestive health. Many individuals report that probiotics alleviate a number of digestive issues, yet little evidence links how probiotic microbes influence human health. Here, we show how the resident microbes that inhabit the healthy human gut respond to a probiotic. The well-studied probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG ATCC 53103 (LGG) was administered in a clinical trial, and a suite of measurements of the resident microbes were taken to evaluate potential changes over the course of probiotic consumption. We found that LGG transiently enriches for functions to potentially promote anti-inflammatory pathways in the resident microbes.

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  • Data showing butyrate treatment protects against age-related muscle atrophy supports the idea that pre- and/or probiotic supplementation may prophylactically moderate aging muscle loss.

    “data showing butyrate (associated with Bifidobacterium [72]) treatment to protect against age-related muscle atrophy [73] supports the idea that pre- and/or probiotic supplementation, which is shown to increase the abundance of Bifidobacterium and butyrate producers in older individuals [74, 75], may prophylactically moderate aging muscle loss.”

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Authors
Eloe-Fadrosh, E. A., Brady, A., Crabtree, J., Drabek, E. F., Ma, B., Mahurkar, A., Ravel, J., Haverkamp, M., Fiorino, A.-M., Botelho, C., Andreyeva, I., Hibberd, P. L., & Fraser, C. M.
Affiliations
  • Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
  • University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
  • Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
Fraser, Claire M.
Venue
mBio
Published
2015-05
Volume
6
Issue
2
ISSN
  • 2150-7511 (ISSN-L)
  • 2161-2129
OpenAlex
W2156573030
Cited by
160
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 4
FWCI
27.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • mBio (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (0959894)
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  • National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (K24AT003683, U01AT002952, U01AT002133, U01AT002388)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
Keywords
probiotics, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, gut microbiota, older adults, Bifidobacterium, Roseburia, Eubacterium, flagellar motility, chemotaxis, adhesion, host-microbe interactions, anti-inflammatory pathways, interindividual variability, 16S rRNA gene profiling
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, DNA, Bacterial, DNA, Ribosomal, Female, Humans, Male, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Cluster Analysis, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Probiotics, Gene Expression Profiling, Gastrointestinal Tract, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus, Microbial Interactions

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