澳大新語 • 2022 UMAGAZINE 26 30 封面專題 • COVER STORY 21 participants with normal cognitive function were selected through a rigorous matching of education levels, lifestyles, and chronic diseases. Eight of them were classified as the ‘control group’ with a balanced Chinese medicine constitution, while 13 were classified as the ‘vulnerable group’ with a Yin deficiency constitution, which is prone to NCDs. The team collected the faeces and urine of the elderly and ran a test to determine their ‘neurocognitive scores’ in areas such as memory, attention, and language. These steps were repeated with the same participants in 2021. To determine the differences in the microbiota and metabolites in the excreta of two groups of participants in 2019, the researchers conducted a multi-omics analysis assessing different types of data, including metagenomics, metabolomics, and proteomics. They found that the neurocognitive scores of each person in the control group did not change much. However, most participants in the vulnerable group presented a significant decline in their scores, with signs of further deterioration in their cognitive function. In addition, three members in the vulnerable group developed mild NCD, suggesting that NCDs are more likely to occur in Yin-deficient older people with certain gut bacterial and metabolic characteristics. Moreover, the increase in Ruminococcus gnavus, Lachnospira eligens, Escherichia coli, and Desulfovibrio piger was significantly higher in the faeces of the vulnerable group than that in the control group. ‘This suggests a possible negative impact of these bacteria on cognitive functions,’ says Prof Zhao. He adds that the two groups showed significant differences in the levels of glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism and vitamins B in the faecal metabolites, as well as in the levels of expression of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 subunit 1 (eIF2α) and amine oxidase A (MAO-A) in the urine exosomes. Assessing the Risk of NCDs The findings of Prof Zhao suggest that it may be possible to assess the risk for developing NCDs among the elderly by examining multi-omics characteristics of bacteria in their gut, vitamin B digestion and absorption, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, so that early intervention could be planned. In the next phase of the research project, the team may recruit more elderly people to find out whether changes in the gut microbiota ecological environment can exert a satisfactory therapeutic effect on NCDs. ‘All disease begins in the gut,’ said Hippocrates, an ancient Greek physician known as the ‘Father of Medicine’. ‘While we aren’t sure of the exact pathway by which changes in the gut lead to NCDs, our gut and brain are definitely much more closely “crosstalked” than many have thought,’ says Prof Zhao. ‘A healthy gut not only helps with digestion, but also benefits the whole body, including the brain.’ 風險組與對照組長者的腸道菌群中各類微生物（以「門」為單位）的比例 Proportions of different microorganisms at the genus level in the gut microbiota of the elderly in the vulnerable group and the control group
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQ1NDU2Ng==