Aging-Associated Augmentation of Gut Microbiome Virulence Capability Drives Sepsis Severity
James F. Colbert, Joshua M. Kirsch, Christopher L. Erzen, Christophe Langouët-Astrié, Grace E. Thompson, Sarah A. McMurtry, Jennifer M. Kofonow, Charles E. Robertson, Elizabeth J. Kovacs, Ryan C. Sullivan, Joseph A. Hippensteel, Namrata V. Sawant, Nicole J. De Nisco, Bruce D. McCollister, Robert S. Schwartz, Alexander R. Horswill, Daniel N. Frank, Breck A. Duerkop, Eric P. Schmidt
Abstract
Older adults suffer more frequent and worse outcomes from sepsis, a critical illness secondary to infection. The reasons underlying this unique susceptibility are incompletely understood. Prior work in this area has focused on how the immune response changes with age. The current study, however, focuses instead on alterations in the community of bacteria that humans live with within their gut (i.e., the gut microbiome). The central concept of this paper is that the bacteria in our gut evolve along with the host and "age," making them more efficient at causing sepsis.