Gut Microbiota Regulates the Metabolic Benefits of Resistance Exercise Intervention via BCAAs Biosynthesis

Abstract

Weight-loss outcomes of overweight/obese individuals upon exercise programs are inconsistent across studies, and the functional determinants underlying this heterogeneous phenomenon remain unclear. Here, we conducted a 12-week exercise intervention program with a longitudinal collection of body composition, serum metabolites, and fecal microbiome data from 62 subjects to investigate the physiological and microbial responses to resistance exercise. Distinct weight loss trajectories and high inter-individual variability on multiple clinical parameters in response to exercise were observed. The baseline gut branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) biosynthesis capacity and serum BCAAs metabolites-based predictor were significantly outperformed the taxa-based P/B-value marker on intervention response prediction. Fecal microbial transplantation validated that the metabolic responsiveness was driven by the engrafting of the hub taxa of Oscillospira and Ruminococcus. This data suggest that gut microbiota was both the driver for individualized responsiveness to exercise and the mediator conferring the effect of metabolic benefits on body weight.