Exercise is a potent modulator of intestinal microbiota composition and function. In 2019, several studies uncovered biologically important links between skeletal muscle and the gut microbiota, revealing how the gut bacteria respond to an exercise challenge and have reciprocal roles in fuel availability, muscle function and endurance performance.
Key advances
Diet-induced changes in the composition of the gut microbiota markedly influence systemic metabolism, fuel availability and exercise capacity4,5.
Treadmill endurance running capacity is decreased and ex vivo skeletal muscle contractile function is impaired in mice with a depleted gut microbiota: restoring the gut microbiota reverses these impairments4,5.
Improved metabolic health and exercise performance in athletes is associated with increased microbial diversity and abundance of bacterial species8,9.
Faecal microbiota transplantation of Veillonella atypica from humans after a strenuous exercise challenge significantly increases submaximal run time to exhaustion in mice9.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
24,99 € / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
214,86 € per year
only 17,91 € per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Hawley, J. A. et al. Integrative biology of exercise. Cell 159, 738–749 (2014).
Hoffman, N. J. Omics and exercise: global approaches for mapping exercise biological networks. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Med. 7, a029884 (2017).
Mailing, L. J. et al. Exercise and the gut microbiome: a review of the evidence, potential mechanisms, and implications for human health. Exerc. Sport Sci. Rev. 47, 75–85 (2019).
Okamoto, T. et al. Microbiome potentiates endurance exercise through intestinal acetate production. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab. 316, E956–E966 (2019).
Nay, K. et al. Gut bacteria are critical for optimal muscle function: a potential link with glucose homeostasis. Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab. 317, E158–E171 (2019).
Barton, W. et al. The microbiome of professional athletes differs from that of more sedentary subjects in composition and particularly at the functional metabolic level. Gut 67, 625–633 (2016).
Estaki, M. et al. Cardiorespiratory fitness as a predictor of intestinal microbial diversity and distinct metagenomic functions. Microbiome 4, 42 (2016).
Keohane, D. M. et al. Four men in a boat: ultra-endurance exercise alters the gut microbiome. J. Sci. Med. Sport 22, 1059–1064 (2019).
Scheiman, J. et al. Meta-omics analysis of elite athletes identifies a performance-enhancing microbe that functions via lactate metabolism. Nat. Med. 25, 1104–1109 (2019).
Allen, J. M. et al. Exercise alters gut microbiota composition and function in lean and obese humans. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 50, 747–757 (2018).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hawley, J.A. Microbiota and muscle highway — two way traffic. Nat Rev Endocrinol 16, 71–72 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0291-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0291-6
