Healthy Longevity and Gut Microbiota: from the Kyotango Longevity Cohort Study

Abstract

It is impossible to clearly answer the question, "What gut microbiota are necessary for extending life span (healthy longevity) in humans?" However, the pathological analysis of aging has rapidly advanced, with clarification of features such as genomic instability, shortening of telomeres, and cell aging along with active development of preventive and therapeutic agents affecting aging. Furthermore, the involvement of the gut microbiota in the pathophysiology of aging has been clarified, and important results have been reported showing that controlling aging of the gut may lead to prevention of lifestyle-related diseases and extension of healthy longevity. Furthermore, in addition to microbiota analysis, advances in analysis technology centered on mass spectrometers are revealing the existence of many microbiota metabolites that affect host immunity, inflammation, and metabolism. In this section, we explain ongoing health and longevity strategies focusing on the gut microbiota, and provide information that is being obtained from the Kyotango longevity cohort study.