The impact of a competitive event and the efficacy of a lactic acid bacteria-fermented soymilk extract on the gut microbiota and urinary metabolites of endurance athletes: An open-label pilot study
AbstractDiet and exercise can alter the gut microbiota, but recent studies have assessed the impact of athletic competition on gut microbiota and host metabolites. We designed an open-label pilot study to investigate the effects of both official competition and a multi-strain lactic acid bacteria-fermented soymilk extract (LEX) on the gut microbiota in Japanese college endurance athletes. The analysis of fecal 16S rRNA metagenome and urinary metabolites was used to identify changes in gut microbiota composition and host metabolism. When the fecal microbiota were investigated before and after a race without using of a supplement (preobservation period), there was an increase in the phylum Firmicutes and decrease in Bacteroidetes. However, no changes in these phyla were seen before and after a race in those who consumed LEX. Before and after LEX ingestion, changes in urinary metabolites included a significant reduction in yeast and fungal markers, neurotransmitters, and mitochondrial metabolites including the TCA cycle. There were several correlations between urinary metabolites and the composition of fecal microbiota. For example, the level of tricarballylic acid was positively correlated with the composition ratio of phylum Firmicutes (Pearson’s r=0.66; p<0.01). The bacterial species Parabacteroides distasonis was also found to correlate moderately with several urinary metabolites. These findings suggest two possibilities. First, endurance athletes experience significant fluctuations in gut microbiota after a single competition. Second, LEX ingestion may improve yeast and fungal overgrowth in the gastrointestinal tract and enhancing mitochondrial metabolic function.
Data Availability Statement: Fastq files are deposited in the DDBJ database under the accession number DRA011638 with h BioProject ID PRJDB11304 and BioSample IDs SAMD00283406-SAMD00283454.
Funding. This work was supported by B&S Corporation Co. Ltd. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for authors (Fukuchi M., Yonekura K. and Sasuga Y.), but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Conflict of interest. The authors have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing conflicts. The test article used for this study was manufactured and marketed by B&S Corporation Co. Ltd. Authors (Fukuchi M., Yonekura K. and Sasuga Y.) are paid employees of B&S Corporation Co. Ltd. There are no patents or products in development to declare. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
Contribution. Data curation, formal analysis, investigation, resources, validation, visualization, writing – original draft – Fukuchi M.; conceptualization, funding acquisition, methodology, project administration, resources, supervision, validation, writing – review & editing – Sugita M.; data curation, investigation, resources, writing – review & editing – Banjo M.; conceptualization, funding acquisition, resources, writing – review & editing – Yonekura K.; conceptualization, formal analysis, funding acquisition, methodology, project administration, resources, supervision, validation, visualization, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing Sasuga Y.
For citation: Fukuchi M., Sugita M., Banjo M., Yonekura K., Sasuga Y. The impact of a competitive event and the efficacy of a lactic acid bacteriafermented soymilk extract on the gut microbiota and urinary metabolites of endurance athletes: An open-label pilot study. PLoS ONE. 17 (1): e0262906. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262906
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