Cross-Sectional Study: New Approach for Diagnostic Identification of Non-Robust Older Adult

ScopeThe aging biomarkers are alternatives and none of them can act as a strong predictor of frailty during the progression of aging. Several studies reveal the relationship between metabolites and frailty or gut microbiota and frailty. However, the connection between metabolites and gut microbiota in non-robust older adults has not been discussed yet. The study aims to combine the findings of serum metabolites and gut microbiota in non-robust subjects as a possible diagnostic biomarker. Methods and resultsFrailty-related assessments are conducted to ensure the discrimination of non-robustness. The serum and fecal are collected for serum metabolomics and gut microbiota analysis. Robust and non-robust subjects show very different gut microbial compositions. Among the gut microbial differences, Escherichia/Shigella and its higher taxonomic ranks are found to have the most discriminative abundance among compared groups. More importantly, the abundance of Escherichia/Shigella is found to be positively correlated (p < 0.05) with the level of discriminant metabolites, such as serum oxoglutarate, glutamic acid, and 1-methyladenosine. ConclusionThese results indicate the obvious interrelation between gut microbiota and serum metabolites in non-robust older adults. Besides, the findings suggest that Escherichia/Shigella can be a potential biomarker candidate for robustness sub-phenotypic identification.

Automated summary

This study aims to explore the relationship between serum metabolites and gut microbiota in non-robust older adults as a potential diagnostic biomarker. The results show significant differences in gut microbial composition between robust and non-robust subjects, particularly with the abundance of Escherichia/Shigella. Moreover, the abundance of Escherichia/Shigella is positively correlated with the levels of discriminant metabolites. These findings indicate the clear interrelation between gut microbiota and serum metabolites in non-robust older adults, suggesting Escherichia/Shigella as a potential biomarker candidate for robustness sub-phenotypic identification.