Age-associated arterial dysfunction, Western diet, and aerobic exercise: Role of the gut microbiome

Existing evidence suggests a link between changes in the gut microbiome with aging and vascular dysfunction in certain populations; however, the precise nature of this relationship in healthy older adults remains inadequately explored. We investigated age-related differences in gut microbiome composition among healthy, community-dwelling young (20-28 years; n=16) and older (60-78 years; n=19) adults. Compared with young adults, older adults displayed changes in β-diversity (P = 0.001) and reduced α-diversity (P ChiSq] < 0.02 for all four regressions).