Fecal microbiota monitoring in elite soccer players along the 2019-2020 competitive season

Physical activity has been reported to impact the composition of the human gut microbiome. In turn, gut microbiome configuration has been proposed to influence athletes' performance. The current understanding on how the microbiome of professional athletes changes along with the different phases of training is far from comprehensive. Here we characterize the fecal microbiome in Italian elite soccer players along the competitive season 2019-2020.The gut microbiome of professional athletes changes along with the different phases of the competitive season, highlighting that longitudinal studies on different types of professional athletes are necessary to expand the knowledge and pursue the goal of personalizing training and dietary plans for performances maximization.