Researchers used intestinal organoids from two mouse strains — one with normal aging and one with accelerated aging — to untangle how the gut lining, enteric nervous system, and microbiota each contribute to intestinal aging. They found that the age of the gut epithelium itself plays a stronger role in the aging phenotype than the age of the surrounding nerve tissue. Strikingly, fecal extracts from aged mice were enough to trigger aging-like changes in otherwise young gut organoids in the lab. This suggests that metabolites produced by aged gut bacteria can directly age gut tissue, and that manipulating gut microbes could be a future strategy for slowing intestinal aging.
