Effect of an 8-week Exercise Training on Gut Microbiota in Physically Inactive Older Women

Abstract

Exercise can alter the composition of gut microbiota. However, studies examining the effects of exercise on gut microbiota in the elderly are lacking. This study aims to investigate whether an 8-week exercise training affect gut microbiota in physically inactive elderly women. Fourteen women were randomly assigned to either exercise group or control group. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to reveal changes in gut microbiota. Alpha diversity did not change significantly. A tendency to form 2 clusters was observed for operational taxonomic units (OTU) after intervention. At phylum, class, and order levels, a significant difference was observed between two groups for Fusobacteria (F=5.257, P=0.045), Betaproteobacteria (F=5.149, P=0.047), and Bifidobacteriales (F=7.624, P=0.020). A significant interaction was observed between two groups for Actinobacteria (F=8.434, P=0.016). At family and genus levels, a significant main effect of groups was observed in Bifidobacteriaceae (F=7.624, P=0.020), Bifidobacterium (F=7.404, P=0.022), and Gemmiger (F=5.881, P=0.036). These findings indicate that an 8-week exercise training may induce partial changes in relative abundance and OTU clustering of gut microbiota in physically inactive elderly women. Also, exercise may increase the abundance of bacteria associated with anti-inflammation such as Verrucomicrobia, reduce the abundance of bacteria associated with pro-inflammation such as Proteobacteria

Systematic Review of the Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on the Gut Microbiome of Older Adults

“…Previous studies have shown that PA/exercise have several benefits during the ageing process such as improvements in cognitive function [ 55 , 56 ], promotion of cardiovascular health [ 57 ] and improvements in the musculoskeletal system [ 58 , 59 , 60 ], making it a precious tool to counteract the age-associated changes that occur in those systems. Besides the benefits mentioned previously, recent studies [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ] on the effects of exercise on the gut microbiome of older people have suggested that exercise might beneficially affect its composition and even reverse some age-associated taxonomical changes, ultimately leading towards healthy ageing. This is a relatively new topic of research.…”

“…This is a relatively new topic of research. As such, human intervention studies are limited and there are only a few observational studies that have assessed this research question [ 61 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 ]. This systematic review aims to summarise results of human studies that assess the effects/associations of PA/exercise on the gut microbiome of older adults, to better understand whether physical activity can positively influence the gut microbiome of older adults and whether it can help promote healthy ageing.…”

Gut Microbiota, Microbial Metabolites and Human Physical Performance

“…The physical performance improved in response to the training, and various measures of physical functions were associated with the abundance of Verrucomicrobia/Akkermansia. Although the training did not affect the alpha-diversity of the GM, the abundances of Phascolarctobacterium and Mitsuokella increased [54].…”

“…Among these, the top five increasing genera were Pseudobutyrivibrio, Coprococcus_2, Collinsella and Mitsuokella [85]. Mitsuokella has been shown to also increase after eight-weeks of combined aerobic and resistance exercise [54]. The liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of the fecal metabolites revealed that the levels of 40 metabolites changed in response to the half-marathon [85].…”

“…A recent study in physically inactive elderly women, conducted by Zhong et al [54], investigated the effects of eight-week combined aerobic and resistance training. The study participants were screened for their health, and only healthy subjects (n = 12) were included.…”