Immune-Boosting Microbiome for the Elderly

Study Rationale:

Each individual’s health is dependent on their immune system. Composed of a complex network of organs, cells, and proteins, the immune system primarily acts as the body’s defense against foreign molecules. By eliminating harmful pathogens and toxins, it is able to protect the host against infection and disease. Unfortunately, the efficacy of the immune system declines with age, a phenomenon known as immunosenescence. As a result, the elderly (>50 years old) have a higher risk of contracting infectious diseases, a fact that has become especially relevant during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Immunosenescence also results in reduced response to vaccination, rendering these protective efforts insufficient. Therefore, finding ways to boost the immune system is of the utmost importance and has potential to save countless lives.

Study Impact and Next Steps:

Recent research has linked the immune system with the microbiome, the collection of microorganisms that lives in the body. The microbiome provides pathogen colonization resistance and impacts the host’s response to foreign pathogens. Microbiota have also been linked to various immune functions like the production of immune cells and the regulation of homeostasis and the immune system as a whole. Additionally, the microbial metabolic pathways palmitoleic acid metabolism and tryptophan degradation are associated with production of cytokines involved in the immune response such as TNFα and IFNγ. Thus, by altering the microbiota present in the body, we have the potential to change and even improve the functionality of the immune system.

Aging and the subsequent weakening of the immune system is inevitable. However, by discovering new ways to improve the immune system, we have the potential to protect human lives against needless risk of life-threatening diseases. If this topic interests you, I invite you to join this project to discover a microbiome that boosts the immune system in the elderly and improve health and wellbeing worldwide.