本期Nature Communications上發表的一篇論文報告說，限制熱量促進腸道細菌的生長，同時實驗鼠的壽命也會有所延長。這一發現表明，限制熱量也許會通過誘導一個健康的腸道微生物群來增強其對宿主的健康促進效應。
通過減少食物攝取限制熱量已知能延長一系列模型生物的壽命。腸道微生物群在宿主健康和疾病中所起作用正在越來越多地被認識到，其組成主要由飲食決定。Liping Zhao讓小鼠終生採用一種熱量受到限制的飲食，並對它們腸道微生物群隨時間所發生的結構變化進行記錄。
該研究小組報告說，特定細菌，如乳酸桿菌屬，與壽命成正相關，其數量因熱量限制而增加。同樣，這一熱量受到限制的飲食減少了與壽命成負相關的細菌的數量。這些變化與血清中「脂多糖結合蛋白」（經常與炎症關聯在一起的一個標記物）水平的降低有關，這表明：由來自腸道細菌的抗原所造成的炎症降低，也許是限制熱量所帶來的健康好處之一。
還需要進一步的研究來弄清腸道微生物群的這些結構變化怎樣延長壽命，同時確認它們是否能用作飲食性抗衰老乾預措施的開發工作的生物標記。（生物谷Bioon.com）
Structural modulation of gut microbiota in life-long calorie-restricted mice
Chenhong Zhang, Shoufeng Li, Liu Yang, Ping Huang, Wenjun Li, Shengyue Wang, Guoping Zhao, Menghui Zhang, Xiaoyan Pang, Zhen Yan, Yong Liu & Liping Zhao
Calorie restriction has been regarded as the only experimental regimen that can effectively lengthen lifespan in various animal models, but the actual mechanism remains controversial. The gut microbiota has been shown to have a pivotal role in host health, and its structure is mostly shaped by diet. Here we show that life-long calorie restriction on both high-fat or low-fat diet, but not voluntary exercise, significantly changes the overall structure of the gut microbiota of C57BL/6 J mice. Calorie restriction enriches phylotypes positively correlated with lifespan, for example, the genus Lactobacillus on low-fat diet, and reduces phylotypes negatively correlated with lifespan. These calorie restriction-induced changes in the gut microbiota are concomitant with significantly reduced serum levels of lipopolysaccharide-binding protein, suggesting that animals under calorie restriction can establish a structurally balanced architecture of gut microbiota that may exert a health benefit to the host via reduction of antigen load from the gut.