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Observational Study
. 2025 Aug;47(4):6039-6063.
doi: 10.1007/s11357-025-01605-w. Epub 2025 Mar 17.

Assessing the gut microbiota composition in older adults: connections to physical activity and healthy ageing

Catarina Ramos  1 , Daniele Magistro  2 , Gemma E Walton  3 , Anya Whitham  2 , Nicola Camp  2 , Carlos Poveda  3 , Glenn R Gibson  3 , John Hough  2 , Will Kinnear  2 , Kirsty Hunter  2   4
Affiliations
Observational Study

Assessing the gut microbiota composition in older adults: connections to physical activity and healthy ageing

Catarina Ramos et al. Geroscience. 2025 Aug.

Abstract

The composition and functionality of the gut microbiota (GM) changes throughout the life course. As we move into older age, it starts to shift towards a less healthy one, which may lead to an imbalance in the GM community. Strategies that can reverse age-related dysbiosis are an important part of healthy aging. Little is known about the GM composition of older adults with different physical activity (PA) levels and whether it might contribute to healthy ageing. The aim of this study was to compare the GM composition of older adults with different PA levels and assess if it is associated with healthy ageing. 101 participants aged between 65-85 years undertook anthropometric measures, a 6-min walking test, wore an accelerometer for 7 days and provided a faecal sample. Faecal GM composition was analysed using 16S rRNA sequencing. We found that those who fulfilled the WHO/UK PA recommendations had higher relative abundance of several health-related bacteria such as Lactobacillus, F. prausnitzii and Roseburia intestinalis and lower abundance of disease-associated bacteria such as D.piger or Enterobacterales when compared to those who did not reach PA recommendations. These findings suggest that PA might improve the GM composition and has the potential to, at least partially, revert age-associated dysbiosis and promote healthy ageing.

Keywords: Ageing; Elderly; Exercise; Gut microbiome; Gut microbiota; Healthy ageing; Older adults; Physical activity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: This study was approved by Nottingham Trent University’s Ethics Committee (application No 690). Both electronic and written informed consent forms were obtained from participants before their enrolment onto the study. Participants were given all the information about the study in written format with the opportunity to ask questions and were informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time without giving a reason why. This study was performed according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent to participate: All the participants included in this study gave their written and online consent to take part. Conflicts of interest: The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of phyla in the participants’ faecal microbiota. Each vertical bar corresponds to a participant
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Relative abundance of phyla grouped by minutes of MVPA/week
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
PCoA plots of Beta diversity based on Bray–Curtis dissimilarity measure. A- MVPA level; B- Number of steps per day; C- Distance walked in the 6MWT
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
a Relative log-fold changes in the GM composition at various taxonomic levels between the different PA levels. The inactive group (less than 150 min of MVPA/week) was considered as the reference group. Therefore, all the log fold changes are relative to that group. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified. b Relative log-fold changes in the GM composition at various taxonomic levels between the different PA levels. The inactive group (less than 150 min of MVPA/week) was considered as the reference group. Therefore, all the log fold changes are relative to that group. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
a Relative log-fold changes in the GM composition at various taxonomic levels between the different PA levels. The inactive group (less than 150 min of MVPA/week) was considered as the reference group. Therefore, all the log fold changes are relative to that group. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified. b Relative log-fold changes in the GM composition at various taxonomic levels between the different PA levels. The inactive group (less than 150 min of MVPA/week) was considered as the reference group. Therefore, all the log fold changes are relative to that group. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
a Comparison of relative log-fold changes between participants who did less than 6000 steps/day (reference group) and those who did between 6000–9000 and more than 9000 steps/day. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified. b Comparison of relative log-fold changes between participants who did less than 6000 steps/day (reference group) and those who did between 6000–9000 and more than 9000 steps/day. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
a Comparison of relative log-fold changes between participants who did less than 6000 steps/day (reference group) and those who did between 6000–9000 and more than 9000 steps/day. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified. b Comparison of relative log-fold changes between participants who did less than 6000 steps/day (reference group) and those who did between 6000–9000 and more than 9000 steps/day. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
a Comparison of relative log-fold changes between participants who walked less than 472 m in the 6MWT (reference group) and those who walked between 472–531, 531–594 and more than 594 m. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified. b Comparison of relative log-fold changes between participants who walked less than 472 m in the 6MWT (reference group) and those who walked between 472–531, 531–594 and more than 594 m. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
a Comparison of relative log-fold changes between participants who walked less than 472 m in the 6MWT (reference group) and those who walked between 472–531, 531–594 and more than 594 m. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified. b Comparison of relative log-fold changes between participants who walked less than 472 m in the 6MWT (reference group) and those who walked between 472–531, 531–594 and more than 594 m. Positive values denote taxa with higher relative abundances while negative values denote taxa with lower relative abundance. Only taxa that were statistically significant (FDR-adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05) are shown. The coloured bars represent the log-fold change while the grey lines indicate the standard error. uncl: unclassified
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