Aging, gut microbiota and metabolic diseases: Management through physical exercise and nutritional interventions

Abstract

Gut microbiota (GM) is involved in the maintenance of physiological homeostasis, thus the alteration of its composition and functionality has been associated with many pathologies such as metabolic diseases, and could also be linked with the progressive degenerative process in aging. Nowadays, life expectancy is continuously rising, so the number of elder people and the consequent related pathologies demand new strategies to achieve healthy aging. Besides, actual lifestyle patterns make metabolic diseases a global epidemic with increasing trends, responsible for a large mortality and morbidity in adulthood and also compromising the health status of later stages of life. Metabolic diseases and aging share a profile of low-grade inflammation and innate immunity acti-vation, which may have disturbances of GM composition as the leading mechanism. Thus, GM emerges as a therapeutic target with a double impact in the elderly, counteracting both aging itself and the frequent metabolic diseases in this population. This review summarizes the role and com-positional changes of the GM in aging and its modulation through nutritional interventions and physical exercise as a strategy to counteract the aging process and the related metabolic diseases.