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EXERCISE METABOLISM IN 2019

Microbiota and muscle highway — two way traffic

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 16, pages 71–72 (2020)Cite this article

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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.

The use of high-throughput molecular techniques in exercise science has been the catalyst for our increased knowledge of the cellular events that regulate muscle metabolism during exercise and has provided an appreciation of the multiplicity, complexity and redundancy of networks involved in these responses1. The use of various ‘omics’ platforms has also afforded opportunities to map contraction-induced biological pathways through the interrogation of tissue-specific and/or cell-specific molecular responses in a holistic, unbiased and integrated manner2. The discovery of muscle crosstalk with other organs and tissues, including the liver, bone and brain, offers a plausible framework for understanding how exercise transmits many of its effects on health and performance. In 2019, the results of several investigations uncovered important links between the gut microbiota and skeletal muscle, helping to cast new light on the inter-connectivity between these two organs. While it is now well established that contracting muscles release proteins and metabolites that have endocrine-like properties, discoveries during the past year demonstrate how gut bacteria respond to exercise challenges and have reciprocal roles in fuel selection, muscle function and exercise performance.

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Fig. 1: The gut microbiota–skeletal muscle highway.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Exercise and Nutrition Research Program, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    John A. Hawley

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  1. John A. Hawley
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Correspondence to John A. Hawley.

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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

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