Does young feces make the elderly live better? Application of fecal microbiota transplantation in healthy aging

Abstract

As we are facing an aging society, anti-aging strategies have been pursued to reduce the negative impacts of aging and increase the health span of human beings. Gut microbiota has become a key factor in the anti-aging process. Modulation of gut microbiota by fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to prevent frailty and unhealthy aging has been a hot topic of research. This narrative review summarizes the benefits of FMT for health span and lifespan, brains, eyes, productive systems, bones, and others. The mechanisms of FMT in improving healthy aging are discussed. The increased beneficial bacteria and decreased pathological bacteria decreased gut permeability and systemic inflammation, increased short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) and SCFA-producing bacteria, and other factors are listed as mechanisms of FMT to improve healthy aging. The points that need to be considered to ensure the optimal outcomes of FMT are also discussed, such as recipients’ age, sex, genetic background, and gut microbiota after FMT. Although this field is still in its infancy, it has shown that FMT has great potential to improve healthy aging.