Int J Sports Med 2021; 42(07): 610-623
DOI: 10.1055/a-1301-7011
Physiology & Biochemistry

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

Fei Zhong
1   Department of Sports and Exercise Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
,
Xu Wen
1   Department of Sports and Exercise Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
,
Min Yang
2   Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
,
Hsin-Yi Lai
3   Department of Neurology and Research Center of Neurology in Second Affiliated Hospital, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of Zhejiang Province, and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
4   College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
5   Department of Neurology of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
,
Haruki Momma
6   Department of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
,
Lei Cheng
7   Department of Ecology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
,
Xiaomin Sun
8   Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an, China
9   Global Health Institute, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an, China
10   Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan
,
Ryoichi Nagatomi
6   Department of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
11   Division of Biomedical Engineering for Health and Welfare, Tohoku University Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Sendai, Japan
,
Cong Huang
1   Department of Sports and Exercise Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
6   Department of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
› Author Affiliations

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

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 30 April 2020

Accepted: 20 October 2020

Article published online:
15 December 2020

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