Endurance exercise beneficially alters gut microbiota composition which results in decreased inflammation and enhanced metabolism, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology. After six weeks of training, potentially inflammation causing microbes (Proteobacteria) decreased, and microbes that are linked to enhanced metabolism (Akkermansia) increased.
‘Endurance exercise training for six weeks has a beneficial impact on gut bacteria composition. Inflammation causing microbes decrease while microbes related to enhanced metabolism increase by this exercise.’
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Even though there was no significant drop in the weight of the subjects, exercise had other beneficial health effects, says Academy of Finland research fellow Satu Pekkala from the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä."We found that phospholipids and cholesterol in VLDL particles decreased in response to exercise. These changes are beneficial for cardiometabolic health because VLDL transports lipids from the liver to peripheral tissues, converts into 'bad' LDL cholesterol in the circulation, and thus has detrimental cardiovascular effects."
Exercise training also decreased Vascular adhesion protein-1 activity, which can have beneficial anti-inflammatory effects especially on the vasculature, though the underlying mechanisms could not be determined in this study.
Whether Akkermansia mediates the health benefits of exercise is under further investigation.
A few other cross-sectional studies have shown that microbes belonging to the Akkermansiagenus are more abundant among physically active subjects than they are among inactive ones. Akkermansia has been a target of intense research recently, and some researchers believe that it may prevent obesity and diabetes.
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In addition to the composition of the gut microbiota, changes in their genes, that is, in their functionality, were studied.
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The research team made an exercise intervention for overweight women, which was completed by 17 subjects. Over a six-week period, previously sedentary women participated in three training sessions per week with a bicycle ergometer. The training intensity was controlled with heart rate. During the study, other lifestyle factors, including diet, were not changed to ensure that the effects of exercise could be observed. The research was carried out as a collaboration between the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä, University of Turku and the Spanish nonprofit research and healthcare organization FISABIO.
Source-Eurekalert