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Can microbes increase exercise performance in athletes?

Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been suggested to be a therapeutic strategy for inflammatory diseases and it is known that regular physical activity can alter the composition of the gut microbiota. Now, a study proposes that FMT might increase exercise performance in athletes, raising the possibility of ‘faecal doping’.

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Correspondence to Mark A. Febbraio.

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Turpin-Nolan, S.M., Joyner, M.J. & Febbraio, M.A. Can microbes increase exercise performance in athletes?. Nat Rev Endocrinol 15, 629–630 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0250-2

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