Association of physical activity with gut microbiome among low-income black American adults in the Southern Community Cohort Study

TL;DR

The study found that physical activity, especially work and home-related, is linked to changes in gut bacteria and metabolic pathways in low-income Black American adults.

Contribution

Identifies specific gut bacterial species and metabolic pathways associated with moderate-vigorous physical activity in a low-income Black American population.

Findings

Work/home-related MVPA was associated with 32 bacterial species, including Bacteroides and Prevotella.

Nine microbial metabolic pathways were significantly linked to MVPA, including urea cycle and amino acid biosynthesis.

MVPA explained minimal variation in gut microbiome diversity but showed significant associations with specific species and pathways.

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) has been suggested to influence the gut microbiome. We evaluated this association among low-income Black American adults. This study included 489 self-identified Black American participants from the Southern Community Cohort Study. PA data, including exercise/sport- and work/home-related moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA), was collected at cohort enrollment (2002−2009). Stool samples were collected between 2018 and 2021, and microbial composition was profiled using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. General linear regression models were employed to evaluate associations between PA and gut microbial α-diversity, abundance of individual species and metabolic pathways. Among all participants, MVPA measures were not associated with Shannon α-diversity (p > 0.05) and explained approximately 0.2−0.3% variation of Bray–Curtis dissimilarity. A total of 32 bacterial species, including seven Bacteroides species, two Streptococcus species, two Prevotella species, and nine microbial metabolic pathways, including D-fucofuranose biosynthesis, xyloglucan degradation, biosynthesis of L-citrulline, L-aspartate and L-asparagine biosynthesis, and urea cycle, were significantly associated with work/home-related and/or total MVPA (all false discovery rates < 0.10). In conclusion, MVPA, particularly from work and home activities, may modulate the composition and functionality of the gut microbiome among Black American adults.

Work/home-related moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA_w) and/or total MVPA (MVPA_a) comprising of MVPA_w and exercise/sport-related MVPA (MVPA_s) are associated with abundance of 32 gut bacterial species in Black American adults.MVPA_w and/or MVPA_a are associated with nine gut metabolic pathways.

Work/home-related moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA_w) and/or total MVPA (MVPA_a) comprising of MVPA_w and exercise/sport-related MVPA (MVPA_s) are associated with abundance of 32 gut bacterial species in Black American adults.

MVPA_w and/or MVPA_a are associated with nine gut metabolic pathways.

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