Healthy lifestyle, daytime sleepiness, and gut microbiome composition are determinants of functional strength in humans: a cross-sectional study

TL;DR

This study finds that age, lifestyle choices, sleep patterns, and gut microbiome diversity influence physical strength in humans.

Contribution

The study identifies specific gut microbiome genera and lifestyle factors linked to functional strength in humans.

Findings

Age and inflammation are associated with reduced functional strength.

A healthy lifestyle lowers the risk of poor functional strength.

Certain gut bacteria like Clostridium XIVa are linked to higher handgrip strength.

Abstract

Age, metabolic inflammation, sleep patterns, lifestyle choices, and gut microbiome composition were investigated as factors influencing functional strength. The Northern German FoCus cohort subgroup (394 women, 233 men) was categorized into six groups based on weekly sports activity and handgrip strength (HGS) measurements. The analyses included anthropometric data, clinical biochemistry, medication, sleep duration, healthy lifestyle score (HLS), 16 S rRNA gut microbiota, serum and urine metabolomics, bile acids, and an adapted dietary inflammatory index (ADII) score. Associations were found between age, inflammation, and low functional strength, with sleep duration increasing the odds and a healthy lifestyle decreasing the risk. Urine metabolomics revealed differences in enrichment analyses. No significant differences were observed in the Chao1 and InVSimpson indices between the groups. At the genus level, some species were associated with daily sports activity, whereas others were associated with HGS measurements. Clostridium XIVa was found only in high- and medium-HGS groups, while Alistipes, Odoribacter, and Streptococcus decreased with activity. Thus, tailored lifestyle interventions may reduce the risk of poor functional strength.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-02519-5.

Figures