Abstract
The effect of aging on circadian clocks within the gastrointestinal system and the role played by melatonin and circadian clocks in the process of gastrointestinal aging is reviewed. Although we know quite a lot about the physiological and molecular mechanisms of circadian clocks in mammals, we know very little about the mechanisms of food-entrainable rhythmicity. The role played by the pineal hormone melatonin has been posited as a key to understanding aging and clock function, but the evidence is incomplete. Finally, new data about aging and circadian control of the intestinal microbiome is placed in the context of the circadian system as a whole.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abe M, Herzog ED, Yamazaki S, Straume M, Tei H, Sakaki Y, Menaker M, Block GD (2002) Circadian rhythms in isolated brain regions. J Neurosci 22(1):350–356
Aguilar-Roblero R, García-Hernández F, Aguilar R, Arankowsky-Sandoval G, Drucker-Colín R (1986) Suprachiasmatic nucleus transplants function as an endogenous oscillator only in constant darkness. Neurosci Lett 69(1):47–52
Albrecht U (2004) The mammalian circadian clock: a network of gene expression. Front Biosci 9:48–55
Anand R, Song Y, Garg S, Girotra M, Sinha A, Sivaraman A, Phillips L, Dutta SK (2017) Effect of aging on the composition of fecal microbiota in donors for FMT and its impact on clinical outcomes. Dig Dis Sci. doi:10.1007/s10620-017-4449-6
Bell-Pedersen D, Cassone VM, Earnest DJ, Golden SS, Hardin PE, Thomas TL, Zoran MJ (2005) Circadian rhythms from multiple oscillators: lessons from diverse organisms. Nat Rev Genet 6(7):544–556
Bischoff SC (2016) Microbiota and aging. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 19(1):26–30
Bitar K, Greenwood-Van Meerveld B, Saad R, Wiley JW (2011) Aging and gastrointestinal neuromuscular function: insights from within and outside the gut. Neurogastroenterol Motil 23(6):490–501
Bubenik GA (1980) Localization of melatonin in the digestive tract of the rat. Effect of maturation, diurnal variation, melatonin treatment and pinealectomy. Horm Res 12(6):313–323
Bubenik GA (2002) Gastrointestinal melatonin: localization, function, and clinical relevance. Dig Dis Sci 47(10):2336–2348
Bubenik GA, Konturek SJ (2011) Melatonin and aging: prospects for human treatment. J Physiol Pharmacol 62(1):13–19
Cassone VM, Stephan FK (2002) Central and peripheral regulation of feeding and nutrition by the mammalian circadian clock: implications for nutrition during manned space flight. Nutrition 18(10):814–819
Cho I, Blaser MJ (2012) The human microbiome: at the interface of health and disease. Nat Rev Genet 13(4):260–270
Claustrat F, Fournier I, Geelen G, Brun J, Corman B, Claustrat B (2005) Aging and circadian clock gene expression in peripheral tissues in rats. Pathol Biol (Paris) 53(5):257–260
Comperatore CA, Stephan FK (1987) Entrainment of duodenal activity to periodic feeding. J Biol Rhythms 2(3):227–242
Conley MN, Wong CP, Duyck KM, Hord N, Ho E, Sharpton TJ (2016) Aging and serum MCP-1 are associated with gut microbiome composition in a murine model. PeerJ. 4:e1854. doi:10.7717/peerj.1854
Davidson AJ, Stephan FK (1999) Plasma glucagon, glucose, insulin, and motilin in rats anticipating daily meals. Physiol Behav 66(2):309–315
Davidson AJ, Cappendijk SL, Stephan FK (2000) Feeding-entrained circadian rhythms are attenuated by lesions of the parabrachial region in rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 278(5):R1296–R1304
Davidson AJ, Poole AS, Yamazaki S, Menaker M (2003) Is the food-entrainable circadian oscillator in the digestive system? Genes Brain Behav 2(1):32–39
Davidson AJ, Yamazaki S, Arble DM, Menaker M, Block GD (2008) Resetting of central and peripheral circadian oscillators in aged rats. Neurobiol Aging 29(3):471–477
Diss LB, Robinson SD, Wu Y, Fidalgo S, Yeoman MS, Patel BA (2013) Age-related changes in melatonin release in the murine distal colon. ACS Chem Neurosci 4(5):879–887
Earnest DJ, Liang FQ, Ratcliff M, Cassone VM (1999) Immortal time: circadian clock properties of rat suprachiasmatic cell lines. Science 283(5402):693–695
Escobar C, Cailotto C, Angeles-Castellanos M, Delgado RS, Buijs RM (2009) Peripheral oscillators: the driving force for food-anticipatory activity. Eur J Neurosci 30(9):1665–1675
Froy O, Miskin R (2007) The interrelations among feeding, circadian rhythms and ageing. Prog Neurobiol 82(3):142–150
Fuller PM, Lu J, Saper CB (2008) Differential rescue of light- and food-entrainable circadian rhythms. Science 320(5879):1074–1077
Geokas MC, Haverback BJ (1969) The aging gastrointestinal tract. Am J Surg 117(6):881–892
Geokas MC, Conteas CN, Majumbar AP (1985) The aging gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas. Clin Geriatr Med 1:177–205
Gillette MU, Tischkau SA (1999) Suprachiasmatic nucleus: the brain’s circadian clock. Recent Prog Horm Res 54:33–58
Gooley JJ, Schomer A, Saper CB (2006) The dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus is critical for the expression of food-entrainable circadian rhythms. Nat Neurosci 9(3):398–407
Hofman MA (2000) The human circadian clock and aging. Chronobiol Int 17(3):245–259
Hofman MA, Swaab DF (2006) Living by the clock: the circadian pacemaker in older people. Ageing Res Rev 5(1):33–51
Hoogerwerf WA (2010) Role of clock genes in gastrointestinal motility. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 299(3):G549–G555
Hoogerwerf WA, Hellmich HL, Cornélissen G, Halberg F, Shahinian VB, Bostwick J, Savidge TC, Cassone VM (2007) Clock gene expression in the murine gastrointestinal tract: endogenous rhythmicity and effects of a feeding regimen. Gastroenterology 133(4):1250–1260
Hoogerwerf WA, Sinha M, Conesa A, Luxon BA, Shahinian VB, Cornélissen G, Halberg F, Bostwick J, Timm J, Cassone VM (2008) Transcriptional profiling of mRNA expression in the mouse distal colon. Gastroenterology 135(6):2019–2029
Hoogerwerf WA, Shahinian VB, Cornélissen G, Halberg F, Bostwick J, Timm J, Bartell PA, Cassone VM (2010) Rhythmic changes in colonic motility are regulated by period genes. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 298(2):G143–G150
Huether G (1994) Melatonin synthesis in the gastrointestinal tract and the impact of nutritional factors on circulating melatonin. Ann N Y Acad Sci 719:146–158
Konturek PC, Brzozowski T, Konturek SJ (2011) Gut clock: implication of circadian rhythms in the gastrointestinal tract. J Physiol Pharmacol 62(2):139–150
Kvetnoy IM, Ingel IE, Kvetnaia TV, Malinovskaya NK, Rapoport SI, Raikhlin NT, Trofimov AV, Yuzhakov VV (2002) Gastrointestinal melatonin: cellular identification and biological role. Neuro Endocrinol Lett 23(2):121–132
Landry GJ, Simon MM, Webb IC, Mistlberger RE (2006) Persistence of a behavioral food-anticipatory circadian rhythm following dorsomedial hypothalamic ablation in rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 290(6):R1527–R1534
Liang X, Bushman FD, FitzGerald GA (2014) Time in motion: the molecular clock meets the microbiome. Cell 159(3):469–470
Liang X, Bushman FD, FitzGerald GA (2015) Rhythmicity of the intestinal microbiota is regulated by gender and the host circadian clock. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112(33):10479–10484
Malloy JN, Paulose JK, Li Y, Cassone VM (2012) Circadian rhythms of gastrointestinal function are regulated by both central and peripheral oscillators. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 303(4):G461–G473
Mariat D, Firmesse O, Levenez F, Guimarăes V, Sokol H, Doré J, Corthier G, Furet JP (2009) The Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio of the human microbiota changes with age. BMC Microbiol 9:123. doi:10.1186/1471-2180-9-123
Mistlberger RE (2011) Neurobiology of food anticipatory circadian rhythms. Physiol Behav 104(4):535–545
Mistlberger RE, Yamazaki S, Pendergast JS, Landry GJ, Takumi T, Nakamura W (2008) Comment on “differential rescue of light- and food-entrainable circadian rhythms”. Science 322(5902):675
Mistlberger RE, Buijs RM, Challet E, Escobar C, Landry GJ, Kalsbeek A, Pevet P, Shibata S (2009) Food anticipation in Bmal1-/- and AAV-Bmal1 rescued mice: a reply to Fuller et al. J Circadian Rhythms. 7:11. doi:10.1186/1740-3391-7-11
Mohawk JA, Green CB, Takahashi JS (2012) Central and peripheral circadian clocks in mammals. Annu Rev Neurosci 35:445–462
Moore RY (2013) The suprachiasmatic nucleus and the circadian timing system. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci 119:1–28
Mukherji A, Kobiita A, Ye T, Chambon P (2013) Homeostasis in intestinal epithelium is orchestrated by the circadian clock and microbiota cues transduced by TLRs. Cell 153(4):812–827
O’Toole PW, Jeffery IB (2015) Gut microbiota and aging. Science 350(6265):1214–1215
Paulose JK, Cassone VM (2016) The melatonin-sensitive circadian clock of the enteric bacterium Enterobacter aerogenes. Gut Microbes 7(5):424–427. doi:10.1080/19490976.2016.1208892
Paulose JK, Wright JM, Patel AG, Cassone VM (2016) Human gut bacteria are sensitive to melatonin and express endogenous circadian rhythmicity. PLoS ONE 11(1):e0146643. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146643
Paulose JK, Krishnasamy MP, Cassone VM (2017) Formal properties of the Enterobacter aerogenes circadian clock. Poster session presented at: from cells to clinic. 8th annual circadian biology symposium of the center for circadian biology, 15–17 Feb, San Diego, CA
Pendergast JS, Nakamura W, Friday RC, Hatanaka F, Takumi T, Yamazaki S (2009) Robust food anticipatory activity in BMAL1-deficient mice. PLoS ONE 4(3):e4860. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004860
Pezuk P, Mohawk JA, Yoshikawa T, Sellix MT, Menaker M (2010) Circadian organization is governed by extra-SCN pacemakers. J Biol Rhythms 25(6):432–441
Polidarová L, Soták M, Sládek M, Pacha J, Sumová A (2009) Temporal gradient in the clock gene and cell-cycle checkpoint kinase Wee1 expression along the gut. Chronobiol Int 26(4):607–620
Polidarová L, Sládek M, Soták M, Pácha J, Sumová A (2011) Hepatic, duodenal, and colonic circadian clocks differ in their persistence under conditions of constant light and in their entrainment by restricted feeding. Chronobiol Int 28(3):204–215
Quay WB (1976) Demonstration of gastrointestinal hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase activity in vertebrates. IRCS Med Sci 4:563
Raikhlin NT, Kvetnoy IM (1976) Melatonin and enterochromaffine cells. Acta Histochem 55(1):19–24
Raikhlin NT, Kvetnoy IM, Tolkachev VN (1975) Melatonin may be synthesized in enterochromaffin cells. Nature 255(5506):344–345
Ralph MR, Foster RG, Davis FC, Menaker M (1990) Transplanted suprachiasmatic nucleus determines circadian period. Science 247(4945):975–978
Reiter RJ (1995) The pineal gland and melatonin in relation to aging: a summary of the theories and of the data. Exp Gerontol 30(3–4):199–212
Reiter RJ (1997) Aging and oxygen toxicity: relation to changes in melatonin. Age (Omaha). 20(4):201–213
Reppert SM, Weaver DR (2002) Coordination of circadian timing in mammals. Nature 418(6901):935–941
Roenneberg T, Merrow M (2003) The network of time: understanding the molecular circadian system. Curr Biol 13(5):R198–R207
Rogers MA, Aronoff DM (2016) The influence of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on the gut microbiome. Clin Microbiol Infect 22(2):178.e1-9. doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2015.10.003
Sánchez-Barceló EJ, Mediavilla MD, Tan DX, Reiter RJ (2010) Clinical uses of melatonin: evaluation of human trials. Curr Med Chem 17(19):2070–2095
Scarbrough K, Losee-Olson S, Wallen EP, Turek FW (1997) Aging and photoperiod affect entrainment and quantitative aspects of locomotor behavior in Syrian hamsters. Am J Physiol 272(4 Pt 2):R1219–R1225
Sládek M, Rybová M, Jindráková Z, Zemanová Z, Polidarová L, Mrnka L, O’Neill J, Pácha J, Sumová A (2007) Insight into the circadian clock within rat colonic epithelial cells. Gastroenterology 133(4):1240–1249
Slominski RM, Reiter RJ, Schlabritz-Loutsevitch N, Ostrom RS, Slominski AT (2012) Melatonin membrane receptors in peripheral tissues: distribution and functions. Mol Cell Endocrinol 351(2):152–166
Soderquist F, Hellstrom PM, Cunningham JL (2015) Human gastroenteropancreatic expression of melatonin and its receptors MT1 and MT2. PLoS ONE 10(3):e0120195. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0120195
Soták M, Polidarová L, Musílková J, Hock M, Sumová A, Pácha J (2011) Circadian regulation of electrolyte absorption in the rat colon. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 301(6):G1066–G1074
Stephan FK (2002) The “other” circadian system: food as a Zeitgeber. J Biol Rhythms 17(4):284–292
Storch KF, Weitz CJ (2009) Daily rhythms of food-anticipatory behavioral activity do not require the known circadian clock. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106(16):6808–6813
Thaiss CA, Zeevi D, Levy M, Zilberman-Schapira G, Suez J, Tengeler AC, Abramson L, Katz MN, Korem T, Zmora N, Kuperman Y, Biton I, Gilad S, Harmelin A, Shapiro H, Halpern Z, Segal E, Elinav E (2014) Transkingdom control of microbiota diurnal oscillations promotes metabolic homeostasis. Cell 159(3):514–529
Thaiss CA, Levy M, Korem T, Dohnalová L, Shapiro H, Jaitin DA, David E, Winter DR, Gury-BenAri M, Tatirovsky E, Tuganbaev T, Federici S, Zmora N, Zeevi D, Dori-Bachash M, Pevsner-Fischer M, Kartvelishvily E, Brandis A, Harmelin A, Shibolet O, Halpern Z, Honda K, Amit I, Segal E, Elinav E (2016) Microbiota diurnal rhythmicity programs host transcriptome oscillations. Cell 167(6):1495–1510
Thomson AB, Keelan M (1986) The aging gut. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 64(1):30–38
Valentinuzzi VS, Scarbrough K, Takahashi JS, Turek FW (1997) Effects of aging on the circadian rhythm of wheel-running activity in C57BL/6 mice. Am J Physiol 273(6 Pt 2):R1957–R1964
Verwey M, Amir S (2009) Food-entrainable circadian oscillators in the brain. Eur J Neurosci 30(9):1650–1657
Voigt RM, Forsyth CB, Green SJ, Mutlu E, Engen P, Vitaterna MH, Turek FW, Keshavarzian A (2014) Circadian disorganization alters intestinal microbiota. PLoS ONE 9(5):e97500. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0097500
Voigt RM, Summa KC, Forsyth CB, Green SJ, Engen P, Naqib A, Vitaterna MH, Turek FW, Keshavarzian A (2016) The circadian clock mutation promotes intestinal dysbiosis. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 40(2):335–347
Waldhauser F, Kovács J, Reiter E (1998) Age-related changes in melatonin levels in humans and its potential consequences for sleep disorders. Exp Gerontol 33(7–8):759–772
Weaver DRT (1998) he suprachiasmatic nucleus: a 25-year retrospective. J Biol Rhythms 13(2):100–112
Yamazaki S, Takahashi JS (2005) Real-time luminescence reporting of circadian gene expression in mammals. Methods Enzymol 393:288–301
Yamazaki S, Straume M, Tei H, Sakaki Y, Menaker M, Block GD (2002) Effects of aging on central and peripheral mammalian clocks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99(16):10801–10806
Yoo SH, Yamazaki S, Lowrey PL, Shimomura K, Ko CH, Buhr ED, Siepka SM, Hong HK, Oh WJ, Yoo OJ, Menaker M, Takahashi JS (2004) PERIOD2:LUCIFERASE real-time reporting of circadian dynamics reveals persistent circadian oscillations in mouse peripheral tissues. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101(15):5339–5346
Zawilska JB, Nowak JZ (1999) Melatonin: from biochemistry to therapeutic applications. Pol J Pharmacol 51(1):3–23
Acknowledgements
The Cassone lab is funded by NIH R01 AG045833.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cassone, V.M., Paulose, J.K., Harpole, C.E. (2017). Aging and the Circadian Control of the Gastrointestinal System: From the Brain to the Gut Microbiome (and Back). In: Jazwinski, S., Belancio, V., Hill, S. (eds) Circadian Rhythms and Their Impact on Aging. Healthy Ageing and Longevity, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64543-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64543-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64542-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-64543-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)