Human Skin, Oral, and Gut Microbiomes Predict Chronological Age
Shi Huang, Niina Haiminen, Anna Paola Carrieri, Rebecca Hu, Lingjing Jiang, Laxmi Parida, Baylee J. Russell, Celeste Allaband, Amir Zarrinpar, Yoshiki Vázquez‐Baeza, Pedro Belda‐Ferre, Hongwei Zhou, Ho‐Cheol Kim, Austin D. Swafford, Rob Knight, Zhenjiang Zech Xu
Abstract
Considerable evidence suggests that the gut microbiome changes with age or even accelerates aging in adults. Whether the age-related changes in the gut microbiome are more or less prominent than those for other body sites and whether predictions can be made about a person's age from a microbiome sample remain unknown. We therefore combined several large studies from different countries to determine which body site's microbiome could most accurately predict age. We found that the skin was the best, on average yielding predictions within 4 years of chronological age. This study sets the stage for future research on the role of the microbiome in accelerating or decelerating the aging process and in the susceptibility for age-related diseases.