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Investigation of the Ecological Link between Recurrent Microbial Human Gut Communities and Physical Activity.

ABSTRACT: Emerging evidence has shown an association between the composition of intestinal microbial communities and host physical activity, suggesting that modifications of the gut microbiota composition may support training, performance, and post-exercise recovery of the host. Nevertheless, investigation of differences in the gut microbiota between athletes and individuals with reduced physical activity is still lacking. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of 207 publicly available shotgun metagenomics sequencing data of fecal samples from athletes and healthy non-athletes. Accordingly, analysis of species-level fecal microbial profiles revealed three recurring compositional patterns, named HPC1 to 3, that characterize the host based on their commitment to physical activity. Interestingly, the gut microbiome of athletes showed a higher abundance of anti-inflammatory, health-promoting bacteria than that of non-athletic individuals. Moreover, the bacterial species profiled in the gut of professional athletes are short-fatty acid producers, which potentially improve energy production, and therefore sports performances. Intriguingly, microbial interaction network analyses suggested that exercise-induced microbiota adaptation involves the whole microbial community structure, resulting in a complex microbe-microbe interplay driven by positive relationships among the predicted butyrate-producing community members. IMPORTANCE Through metagenomic analyses, this work revealed that athletes have a gut-associated microbial community enriched in butyrate-producing species compared with non-athletes. This evidence can support the existence of a two-way association between the host's lifestyle and the gut microbiota composition, with potential intriguing athletic performance outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Tarracchini C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9045144 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The preservation of cognitive abilities with aging is a priority both for individuals and nations given the aging populations of many countries. Recently the gut microbiome has been identified as a new territory to explore in relation to cognition. Experiments using rodents have identified a link between the gut microbiome and cognitive function, particularly that low microbial diversity leads to poor cognition function. Similar studies in humans could identify novel targets to encourage healthy cognition in an aging population. Here, we investigate the association of gut microbiota and cognitive function in a human cohort considering the influence of physical frailty. We analyzed 16S rRNA gene sequence data, derived from fecal samples obtained from 1,551 individuals over the age of 40. Cognitive data was collected using four cognitive tests: verbal fluency (n = 1,368), Deary-Liewald Reaction Time Test (DLRT; n = 873), Mini Mental State Examination (recall; n = 1,374) and Paired Associates Learning from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB-PAL; n = 405). We use mixed effects models to identify associations with alpha diversity, operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and taxa and performed further analyses adjusting for physical frailty. We then repeated the analyses in a subset of individuals with dietary data, also excluding those using medications shown to influence gut microbiome composition. DLRT and verbal fluency were negatively associated with alpha diversity of the gut microbiota (False-Discovery Rate, FDR, p < 0.05). However, when considering frailty as a covariate, only associations between the DLRT and diversity measures remained. Repeating analyses excluding Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and antibiotic users and accounting for diet, we similarly observe significant negative associations between the DLRT and alpha diversity measures and a further negative association between DLRT and the abundance of the order Burkholderiales that remains significant after adjusting for host frailty. This highlights the importance of considering concurrent differences in physical health in studies of cognitive performance and suggests that physical health has a relatively larger association with the gut microbiome. However, the frailty independent cognitive-gut microbiota associations that were observed might represent important targets for further research, with potential for use in diagnostic surveillance in cognitive aging and interventions to improve vitality.

Dataset Information

Investigation of the Ecological Link between Recurrent Microbial Human Gut Communities and Physical Activity.

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