Gut microbiota: The hidden hallmark of aging

Aging is the natural process of changes that are accumulated over time and are responsible for the ever-increasing susceptibility to diseases and death. Extensive research has been done to understand the role of gut microbiota in aging, however, limited progress has been made. Thus, considering the need of the hour we have tried to give a new perspective to this body of research by delving deep into all major factors that are associated with gut microbiome and aging. This review presents a holistic view of the relation between gut microbiome and aging starting from hallmarks of aging and evolution of gut microbiome over lifespan to intricate mechanisms like inflammaging, immunosenescence, gut-brain axis, mitochondrial dysfunction, nutrient imbalance and cardiac implications. In addition, it highlights different therapies like fecal microbiota transplantation, omics and metabolomics studies, and gut modulation therapies that show a promising future towards regulation of gut microbiota for aging interventions. More importantly, this review is an addition to the existing literature which advocates gut microbiome as an additional hallmark of aging, summarising the known status of the research in this field, contributing to developing gut microbiota targeted healthy aging.