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WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For older persons, following a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is associated with an increased abundance of specific taxa linked to markers of lower frailty and improved cognitive function, according to a study published online Feb. 17 in Gut<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Tarini Shankar Ghosh, Ph.D., from University College Cork in Ireland, and colleagues profiled the gut microbiota of 612 nonfrail or prefrail individuals in European countries before and after administration of a 12-month MedDiet intervention tailored to elderly individuals.<\/p>\n
The researchers observed an association between adherence to the diet and specific microbiome alterations. There was a positive association noted for taxa enriched by the diet with several markers of lower frailty and improved cognitive function; a negative association was seen with inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein and interleukin-17. The diet-modulated microbiome change was associated with an increase in production of short\/branch chained fatty acids and lower production of secondary bile acids, p-cresols, ethanol, and carbon dioxide. The bacterial taxa that responded positively to the MedDiet intervention occupied keystone interaction positions, while taxa associated with frailty were peripheral in the networks.<\/p>\n
“The interplay of diet, microbiome and host health is a complex phenomenon influenced by several factors,” the authors write. “While the results of this study shed light on some of the rules of this three-way interplay, several factors such as age, body mass index, disease status and initial dietary patterns may play a key role in determining the extent of success of these interactions.”<\/p>\n