Intestinal barrier dysfunction links metabolic and inflammatory markers of aging to death in Drosophila

Aging is characterized by a growing risk of disease and death, yet the underlying pathophysiology is poorly understood. Indeed, little is known about how the functional decline of individual organ systems relates to the integrative physiology of aging and probability of death of the organism. Here we show that intestinal barrier dysfunction is correlated with lifespan across a range of Drosophila genotypes and environmental conditions, including mitochondrial dysfunction and dietary restriction. Regardless of chronological age, intestinal barrier dysfunction predicts impending death in individual flies. Activation of inflammatory pathways has been linked to aging and age-related diseases in humans, and an…