The ageing gastrointestinal tract : Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care (original) (raw)
AGEING: BIOLOGY AND NUTRITION: Edited bY Tommy Cederholm and John E. Morley
Soenen, Stijn; Rayner, Christopher K.; Jones, Karen L.; Horowitz, Michael
National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC), Centre of Research Excellence in Translating Nutritional Science to Good Health, The University of Adelaide, Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australia, Australia
Correspondence to Stijn Soenen, Discipline of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia. Tel: +61883133638; fax: +61882233870; e-mail: [email protected]
Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care 19(1):p 12-18, January 2016. | DOI: 10.1097/MCO.0000000000000238
Abstract
Purpose of review
This article reviews the impact of ageing on the gastrointestinal tract, including effects on the absorption of nutrients and drugs and the gastrointestinal tract defence system against ingested pathogens.
Recent findings
Recent publications support earlier observations of an age-related selective decline in gut function including changes in taste, oesophageal sphincter motility, gastric emptying, and neurons of the myenteric plexus related to gut transit which may impact the nutritional status. Ageing is also associated with structural and functional mucosal defence defects, diminished abilities to generate protective immunity, and increased incidence of inflammation and oxidative stress. A number of gastrointestinal disorders occur more frequently in the elderly population.
Summary
Alterations in gut function with ageing have particular implications for oesophageal, gastric, and colonic motility. Older individuals are particularly susceptible to malnutrition, postprandial hypotension, dysphagia, constipation, and faecal incontinence. Decrease in the number of nerve cells of the myenteric plexus that impact digestive absorption and the surface area of the small intestine because of degeneration of villi may lead to blunted absorption of nutrients. Impairment of the intestinal immune system as a result of ageing, including the mucosal layer of the gastrointestinal tract, appears to be a significant contributor to the age-related increase in the incidence and severity of infections.
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