{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T17:34:15Z","timestamp":1790703255515,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,28]],"date-time":"2021-04-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1619568000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Invasive foodborne <jats:italic>Listeria monocytogenes<\/jats:italic> infection causes gastroenteritis, septicemia, meningitis, and chorioamnionitis, and is associated with high case-fatality rates in the elderly. It is unclear how aging alters gut microbiota, increases risk of listeriosis, and causes dysbiosis post-infection. We used a geriatric murine model of listeriosis as human surrogate of listeriosis for aging individuals to study the effect of aging and <jats:italic>L. monocytogenes<\/jats:italic> infection. Aging and listeriosis-induced perturbation of gut microbiota and disease severity were compared between young-adult and old mice. Young-adult and old mice were dosed intragastrically with <jats:italic>L. monocytogenes<\/jats:italic>. Fecal pellets were collected pre- and post-infection for microbiome analysis. Infected old mice had higher <jats:italic>Listeria<\/jats:italic> colonization in liver, spleen, and feces. Metagenomics analyses of fecal DNA-sequences showed increase in \u03b1-diversity as mice aged, and infection reduced its diversity. The relative abundance of major bacterial phylum like, <jats:italic>Bacteroidetes<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Firmicutes<\/jats:italic> remained stable over aging or infection, while the <jats:italic>Verrucomicrobia<\/jats:italic> phylum was significantly reduced only in infected old mice. Old mice showed a marked reduction in <jats:italic>Clostridaiceae<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Lactobacillaceae<\/jats:italic> bacteria even before infection when compared to uninfected young-adult mice. <jats:italic>L. monocytogenes<\/jats:italic>\u00a0infection increased the abundance of <jats:italic>Porphyromonadaceae<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Prevotellaceae<\/jats:italic> in young-adult mice, while members of the <jats:italic>Ruminococcaceae<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Lachnospiraceae<\/jats:italic> family were significantly increased in old mice. The abundance of the genera <jats:italic>Blautia<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Alistipes<\/jats:italic> were significantly reduced post-infection in young-adult and in old mice as compared to their uninfected counterparts. Butyrate producing, immune-modulating bacterial species, like <jats:italic>Pseudoflavonifractor<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Faecalibacterium<\/jats:italic> were significantly increased only in old infected mice, correlating with increased intestinal inflammatory mRNA up-regulation from old mice tissue. Histologic analyses of gastric tissues showed extensive lesions in the <jats:italic>Listeria<\/jats:italic>-infected old mice, more so in the non-glandular region and fundus than in the pylorus. Commensal species like <jats:italic>Lactobacillus<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Clostridiales<\/jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>Akkermansia<\/jats:italic> were only abundant in infected young-adult mice but their abundance diminished in the infected old mice. Listeriosis in old mice enhances the abundance of butyrate-producing inflammatory members of the <jats:italic>Ruminococcaceae<\/jats:italic>\/<jats:italic>Lachnospiraceae<\/jats:italic> bacteria while reducing\/eliminating beneficial commensals in the gut. Results of this study indicate that, aging may affect the composition of gut microbiota and increase the risk of invasive <jats:italic>L. monocytogenes<\/jats:italic> infection.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2021.672353","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,28]],"date-time":"2021-04-28T16:13:15Z","timestamp":1619626395000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":50,"title":["Aging-Induced Dysbiosis of Gut Microbiota as a Risk Factor for Increased Listeria monocytogenes Infection"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Mohammad S.","family":"Alam","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jayanthi","family":"Gangiredla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nur A.","family":"Hasan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tammy","family":"Barnaba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carmen","family":"Tartera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/fpd.2017.2297","article-title":"Changing US Population Demographics: What Does This Mean for Listeriosis Incidence and Exposure","volume":"14","author":"Pohl","year":"2017","journal-title":"Foodborne Pathog Dis"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/fpd.2018.2548","article-title":"Differences Among Incidence Rates of Invasive Listeriosis in the U.S. Foodnet Population by Age, Sex, Race\/Ethnicity, and Pregnancy Status, 2008-2016","volume":"16","author":"Pohl","year":"2019","journal-title":"Foodborne Pathog Dis"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.annemergmed.2013.08.006","article-title":"Prevention. 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