Gut bacterial ecosystem is linked to host’s exercise capacity independent of food habits
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Despite reduced bacterial diversity, endurance athletes exhibit higher fecal SCFA levels
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Gut microbiota from athletes improves insulin sensitivity of transplanted mice
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The gut bacterial ecosystem might be driven by access to energy resources left by the host
Summary
Although the gut microbiota is known to act as a bridge between dietary nutrients and the body’s energy needs, the interactions between the gut microbiota, host energy metabolism, and exercise capacity remain uncertain. Here, we characterized the gut microbiota ecosystem in a cohort of healthy normo-weight humans with highly heterogeneous aerobic exercise capacities and closely related body composition and food habits. While our data support the idea that the bacterial ecosystem appears to be modestly altered between individuals with low-to-high exercise capacities and close food habits, we report that gut bacterial α diversity, density, and functional richness are significantly reduced in athletes with very high exercise capacity. By using fecal microbiota transplantation, we report that the engraftment of gut microbiota from athletes with very high exercise capacity improves insulin sensitivity and muscle glycogen stores into transplanted mice, which highlights promising therapeutic perspectives in fecal transplantation from human donors selected based on exercise capacity traits.
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(25)00219-0
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