Aerobic exercise and human gut microbiota composition of sedentary men

We investigated the effect of 10-week moderate aerobic exercise on the human gut microbiota. Twenty-four previously sedentary Brazilian men (age 25.18 [SD 4.66] years, BMI 24.5 [SD 3.72]kg/m²) were randomized into control (CG;n=12) and exercise group (EG;n=12). Body composition, cardiorespiratory parameters, blood markers and gut microbiota composition were evaluated and food habits were controlled during intervention. The gut microbiota composition analyses were performed from 48 stool samples of the volunteers at the pre intervention (EG=12, CG=12) and post intervention (EG=12, CG=12). Sequence libraries were prepared according to the Illumina MiSeq system instructions (Illumina, San Diego, CA). Variable region V4 of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified. All the procedures involved in this analysis followed the recommendations of Illumina platform. The sequencing coverage was around 156.250 readings per sample. A total of 4.044.921 original .fastq sequences were obtained after sequencing which, in turn, were processed using QIIME software (Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology) pipeline 2 version 2018.11. 10 week-aerobic exercise training at moderate intensity was capable of significantly modify gut microbiota composition of sedentary men. From our interpretation, exercise may modify gut microbiota composition in a balance way, adjusting the species concentrations according to the gut ecosystem necessities.