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Abstract
Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels and is a serious health concern associated with metabolic syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and gut microbiota alterations. Physical exercise is known to counteract obesity progression and modulate the gut microbiota composition. This study aims to determine the effect of a 12-week strength and endurance combined training program on gut microbiota and inflammation in obese pediatric patients. Thirty-nine obese children were assigned randomly to the control or training group. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters, muscular strength, and inflammatory signaling pathways in mononuclear cells were evaluated. Bacterial composition and functionality were determined by massive sequencing and metabolomic analysis. Exercise reduced plasma glucose levels and increased dynamic strength in the upper and lower extremities compared with the obese control group. Metagenomic analysis revealed a bacterial composition associated with obesity, showing changes at the phylum, class, and genus levels. Exercise counteracted this profile, significantly reducing the Proteobacteria phylum and Gammaproteobacteria class. Moreover, physical activity tended to increase some genera, such as Blautia, Dialister, and Roseburia, leading to a microbiota profile similar to that of healthy children. Metabolomic analysis revealed changes in short-chain fatty acids, branched-chain amino acids, and several sugars in response to exercise, in correlation with a specific microbiota profile. Finally, the training protocol significantly inhibited the activation of the obesity-associated NLRP3 signaling pathway. Our data suggest the existence of an obesity-related deleterious microbiota profile that is positively modified by physical activity intervention. Exercise training could be considered an efficient nonpharmacological therapy, reducing inflammatory signaling pathways induced by obesity in children via microbiota modulation.
Highlights
Obesity among children, adolescents, and adults are one of the most serious public health concerns since it has been associated with many other diseases, including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and type 2 diabetes[1,2]
The anthropometric, hematological, and most of the biochemical data showed no significant differences between the control and trained obese groups throughout the study
Because childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health concerns from this century, which is associated with metabolic syndrome and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a mechanism that involves gut microbiota alteration, studies on the composition and functional dysbiosis of gut microbiota and on the intervention strategies have been appearing recently[28,29]
Summary
Adolescents, and adults are one of the most serious public health concerns since it has been associated with many other diseases, including cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and type 2 diabetes[1,2]. Intestinal microbiota has been shown to be a major factor underlying obesity in adults[4,5], and recent research links changes in microbiota composition to obesity in children[6,7]. The homeostasis of the intestinal microbiota depends on many factors related to the characteristics of the host, such as age, sex, and genetic background, as well as environmental conditions[9]. In the last few years, several researchers, including our group, have begun to study the influence that alteration of the intestinal microbiota, called intestinal dysbiosis, can have on the development of obesity and related pathogenic alterations[10,11,12]. The intestinal microbiota has an important role in obesity, as the efficiency of the digestion of nutrients as well as storage and energy expenditure depend on the microbiota composition[13]
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