Effect of Lactobacillus plantarum TWK10 on Exercise Physiological Adaptation, Performance, and Body Composition in Healthy Humans

Abstract

Probiotics have been rapidly developed for health promotion, but clinical validation of the effects on exercise physiology has been limited. In a previous study, Lactobacillus plantarum TWK10 (TWK10), isolated from Taiwanese pickled cabbage as a probiotic, was demonstrated to improve exercise performance in an animal model. Thus, in the current study, we attempted to further validate the physiological function and benefits through clinical trials for the purpose of translational research. The study was designed as a double-blind placebo-controlled experiment. A total of 54 healthy participants (27 men and 27 women) aged 20–30 years without professional athletic training were enrolled and randomly allocated to the placebo, low (3 × 1010 colony forming units (CFU)), and high dose (9 × 1010 CFU) TWK10 administration groups (n = 18 per group, with equal sexes). The functional and physiological assessments were conducted by exhaustive treadmill exercise measurements (85% VO2max), and related biochemical indices were measured before and after six weeks of administration. Fatigue-associated indices, including lactic acid, blood ammonia, blood glucose, and creatinine kinase, were continuously monitored during 30 min of exercise and a 90 min rest period using fixed intensity exercise challenges (60% VO2max) to understand the physiological adaptation. The systemic inflammation and body compositions were also acquired and analyzed during the experimental process. The results showed that TWK10 significantly elevated the exercise performance in a dose-dependent manner and improved the fatigue-associated features correlated with better physiological adaptation. The change in body composition shifted in the healthy direction for TWK10 administration groups, especially for the high TWK10 dose group, which showed that body fat significantly decreased and muscle mass significantly increased. Taken together, our results suggest that TWK10 has the potential to be an ergogenic aid to improve aerobic endurance performance via physiological adaptation effects.

Heat-Killed Bifidobacterium breve B-3 Enhances Muscle Functions: Possible Involvement of Increases in Muscle Mass and Mitochondrial Biogenesis

“…Similarly to our observation, it has been reported that Lactobacillus plantarum TWK10 increases muscle mass and promotes type I fibers (slow muscle) in murine gastrocnemius muscle [31]. Moreover, TWK10 has shown potential as an ergogenic aid to improve aerobic endurance performance via physiological adaptation effects in amateur runners and healthy humans [32,33].…”

A Review of the Role of the Gut Microbiome in Personalized Sports Nutrition

“…Our review of the literature found eleven studies investigating the ergogenic effect of probiotic supplementation (133-142, 147) ( Table 4). Common probiotic bacteria used were strains of Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium (133,134,(136)(137)(138)(139)147). Additional strains tested included those belonging to species Bacillus subtillis (140) or Bacillus coagulans (135), Veillonella atypica (141), or even yeast Saccharomyces boulardii (142).…”

“…In addition to performance variables, many of these studies investigated effects on body composition and inflammation. Again, results were mixed, with some studies reporting significant effects of supplementation on outcomes such as fat mass and muscle mass (132,133) or inflammatory markers (133,137,139,141,147), though results were often mixed with some biochemical markers showing no significant effect of probiotic treatment and some studies showing no significant effects at all on these outcomes (134,142). However, as none of these variables were analyzed, further research is necessary to determine the mechanism of the effects as well as whether the same effects are seen in humans.…”

Lactobacillus salivarius Subspecies salicinius SA-03 is a New Probiotic Capable of Enhancing Exercise Performance and Decreasing Fatigue

“…In our previous study, the Bifidobacterium longum (OLP-01) isolated from a weightlifting gold medalist found that, not only help in fatigue indicators, but also significantly increased 1.77-3.37-fold exercise to exhaustive time by 1X, 2X and 5X dose OLP-01 supplementation for four weeks, in addition, it also has a significant increase in forelimb grip, although there is no significant difference in muscle mass [16]. Lactobacillus plantarum (TWK10) supplement not only improves exercise performance and increases muscle mass in mice [15], but also increased endurance performance and elevated blood glucose concentration following exercise-to-exhaustion after six weeks of high dose (1 × 10 11 CFU) TWK10 supplementation in untrained healthy male adults [41]. Four weeks of SA-03 supplementation significantly increased the time from swimming endurance to exhaustion in mice ( Figure 2) and increased forelimb grip (Figure 3).…”