Page 74 - Read Online

Page 26 of 35 Boyajian et al. Microbiome Res Rep 2024;3:29 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/mrr.2024.05

unique relationship between obesity and aging may be targeted with the use of biotic therapies through the
well-established GBA. The microbiome and various forms of biotics - namely prebiotics, probiotics,
synbiotics, and postbiotics - offer distinct benefits to the host, which can be exploited to develop novel
therapeutics for obesity, aging, and related diseases. Several areas of research can be further explored to
establish and engineer biotics, including their mechanisms of action, strain-specific therapeutic effects, and
their combinations as synergistic therapies. Future studies may advance the literature on the use of
postbiotics in obesity and aging by studying the effects of probiotic products on other shared hallmarks,
such as adipose tissue dysfunction. Regulation of appetite hormones by biotics may also be studied. In
addition, investigating the mechanisms of the GBA in sarcopenic obesity may help identify specific
pathways and markers that link obesity and aging through the GBA. Specifically, vagal activity should be
evaluated in obese, aging, and comorbid populations. Advancing knowledge on prominent diseases like
obesity and aging through research on biotics would pave the way for groundbreaking medicine. The era of
microbiome-tailored therapies has only just begun and biotic therapeutics remain at the forefront.

DECLARATIONS
Authors’ contributions
Wrote the original draft: Boyajian JL
Made substantial contributions to conceptualization, reviewing, and editing: Islam P, Abosalha A, Schaly S,
Thareja R, Kassab A, Arora K, Shum-Tim C, Santos M, Prakash S

Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.

Financial support and sponsorship
This work is supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) (Grant No. 252743) awarded
to Prakash S. Boyajian JL is fully funded by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS) (Grant No.
335999-2024). Islam P is funded by the Islamic Development Bank Scholarship (Grant No. 2020- 245622).
Abosalha A is fully funded by a scholarship from the Ministry of Higher Education of the Arab Republic of
Egypt. Schaly S is fully funded by the Canadian Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral from the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) (Grant No. 569661-2022). Arora K is funded by the Canadian
Graduate Scholarship-Master’s from NSERC. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and
analysis, interpretation of the data or writing of the manuscript.

Conflicts of interest
All authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.

Consent for publication
Not applicable.

Copyright
© The Authors 2024.

REFERENCES
1. Frasca D. Several areas of overlap between obesity and aging indicate obesity as a biomarker of accelerated aging of human B cell
function and antibody responses. Immun Ageing 2022;19:48. DOI PubMed PMC