When you say "stem cells" people think of a laboratory and expensive injections. But you have stem cells that work 24/7, you just didn't know: the stem cells in the intestine. They renew your mucous membranes every 4-5 days. With age, they stop. A new study published in Stem Cell Reports offers a surprising solution: to replace the bacteria around them.
The problem: when the intestine stops renewing
The mucous membranes in the intestine are the tissue that regenerates the fastest in the body. The stem cells in your gut produce billions of new daughter cells every day that replace the old ones. With age this mechanism slows down. The result: poor nutrient absorption, a tendency to inflammation, slow recovery from intestinal injuries, and an increased risk of colon cancer.
What makes the stem cells in the intestine "lazy" with age? One theory said it was internal to the cell itself. But the team of Prof\' Hartmut Geiger, director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Ulm University in Germany, and his partners at Cincinnati Children\'s Hospital, thought otherwise. They wondered if the cellular environment, and specifically the bacteria in the gut, was part of the problem.
The experiment: replacing bacteria
The team took old mice and transferred to them a microbiome from healthy young mice, in a process called FMT (Fecal Microbiota Transfer). At the same time, a control group received a microbiome from other old mice. After a few weeks, check the function of the stem cells in the intestine.
The results surprised the team:
- The stem cells in the intestines that received a young microbiome resumed the production of new cells at a rate that simulates young mice
- Recovery from intestinal injuries (experimentally induced) was significantly accelerated in the young microbiome group
- Inflammatory markers decreased, and the structure of the mucous membranes returned to resemble that of young mice
"A young microbiome is able to make an old intestine heal faster and function more like a young intestine," concluded Prof. Geiger.
How do the bacteria "depress" the stem cells?
The team identified several mechanisms. Young bacteria produce more short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) such as butyrate, which are a direct source of energy for the mucosal cells and signal the stem cells to remain active. In addition, the young bacterial diversity tends to suppress pro-inflammatory bacteria that take up space in the old intestine.
In other words: it is not only that the old bacteria are "less good", but also that they have less variety, and more of them are inflammatory. Changing this environment allows the stem cells to return to normal function.
Important: these are still mice
The team warns that there is a way to go until implementation in humans. Open questions:
- Would the same effect happen in the human intestine, which is much more complex?
- Which specific bacteria are responsible for the effect? (If we know, we can develop a capsule instead of FMT)
- What is the correct dose? How long will the effect last?
- Is it safe in adults with compromised immune systems?
How does this connect to existing FMT treatments?
Facile microbiome transplantation is already medically approved in the USA for the treatment of persistent infection by the bacterium Clostridium difficile. Clinical experience shows that this is a relatively safe procedure in the approved state. Expansion to the indication of "gut anti-aging" will require well-organized clinical trials, but the regulatory and technical infrastructure is already in place.
What can be done today
Until there are human trials, these are the interventions that have evidence that they improve the microbiome:
- Diverse dietary fiber (fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains), at least 25-30 grams per day
- Fermented foods (yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir) on a daily basis
- Limiting antibiotics only when really necessary (it wipes out good bacteria)
- Avoidance of processed sugars which mainly feed pro-inflammatory bacteria
- Quality sleep. The microbiome is influenced by the biological clock
The big conclusion from the study: your aging is not only yours. It is shared with the 100 trillion bacterial partners you have in your gut. Take care of them, and they will take care of your gut.
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