Adaptive immune aging alters gut microbiome and reduces systemic vitamin B6 in mouse model (microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com)

• Aged HSC transplantation into young mice recapitulates mucosal immune aging and alters the gut microbiome.
• Shotgun metagenomics shows reduced abundance of vitamin B6 biosynthesis and salvage pathway taxa in mice with aged immune systems.
• Serum vitamin B6 levels are lower in mice with an aged adaptive immune system, linking immune aging to microbial VB6 output.

"Researchers demonstrated that aging of the adaptive immune system (AAIR) drives changes in the gut microbiome, specifically reducing the abundance of taxa involved in vitamin B6 biosynthesis and salvage pathways. Using HSC transplantation in mice, they showed that an aged immune system alone, in a young host environment, recapitulates mucosal immune aging and leads to decreased serum VB6 levels. The findings identify a causal link between immune aging and microbial VB6 production, suggesting potential therapeutic targets to maintain VB6 levels in aging."