Effects of mouse-to-mouse fecal microbiota transplantation on vascular function with age and diet

Transplantation of fecal microbiota from young mice into old mice improved endothelium-dependent dilation to acetylcholine (P = 0.05) and reduced aortic stiffness (P = 0.005), whereas transplanting old microbiota into young mice had the opposite effect. Collectively, these findings implicate the gut microbiome as a contributor to vascular dysfunction with aging, possibly via activation of proinflammatory pathways.

将年轻小鼠的粪便微生物群（fecal microbiota）移植至老年小鼠体内后，可改善乙酰胆碱（acetylcholine）诱导的内皮依赖性舒张（endothelium-dependent dilation）功能（P=0.05），并降低主动脉僵硬度（aortic stiffness）（P=0.005）；而将老年小鼠的粪便微生物群移植至年轻小鼠体内则产生相反效应。综上，本研究结果提示肠道微生物组（gut microbiome）是衰老相关血管功能障碍的潜在诱因，其作用可能通过激活促炎通路（proinflammatory pathways）实现。