A Cross-Sectional Study of the Gut Microbiota Composition in Moscow Long-Livers.

The aim was to assess the gut microbiota of long-livers from Moscow. This study included two groups of patients who signed their consent to participate. The group of long-livers (LL) included 20 participants aged 97-100 years (4 men and 16 women). The second group included 22 participants aged 60-76 years (6 men) without clinical manifestations of chronic diseases (healthy elderly). Gut microbiota was studied by 16S rRNA sequencing. Long-livers underwent a complex geriatric assessment as well as expanded blood biochemistry. Gut microbiota composition in the cohorts was also compared with microbiome in long-livers from Japan and Italy. Russian long-livers' microbiome contained more beneficial bacteria than healthy elderly includingRuminococcaceae, Christensenellaceae, Lactobacillaceaefamilies. Conditional pathogens likeVeillonellaceae, Mogibacteriaceae, Alcaligenaceae, Peptococcaceae, Peptostreptococcaceaewere more abundant in the healthy elderly. Compared with Italian and Japanese microbiome LL, the Russian LL appeared to be more similar to the Italian cohort.Bifidobacterium/CoprococcusandFaecalibacterium/Coprococcusbalances were associated with femoral and carotid intima-media thickness, respectively.Bifidobacterium/Coriobacteriaceaebalance was assessed with the folic acid level andFaecalibacterium/Coriobacteriaceae_uthe with Mini Nutritional Assessment score. Long-livers' microbiome appeared to be unexpectedly balanced. The high representation of beneficial bacteria in long-livers may prevent them from low-grade inflammation and thus protect them from the development of atherosclerosis and other aging-associated conditions.