Abstract
Background
The current pilot study was carried out to examine the effect of aerobic exercise on Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium as a function of weight loss and cytokine changes in overweight women.
Material and Methods
Eighteen women with excessive weight (age = 19–30 years) were randomly assigned into exercise (10 weeks, aerobic exercise training, 3 sessions/week) and control groups. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in stool and inflammatory factors in blood were evaluated before and after the intervention.
Results
The intervention induced significant improvements in body weight and in VO2 peak. There were significant time effects on Lactobacillus (p = .016) and significant time*exercise interaction effects on Bifidobacterium (p = .025). Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium changes were negatively associated with body weight and IL-6 levels, respectively.
Conclusions
The current results indicate that exercise training associated with weight loss can increase specific bacteria in people with excessive weight. Changes in Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium were not significantly associated with cytokines.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank all participant of this study.
Ethics approval
The ethics committee of Tarbiat Modares University approved the study.
Disclosure statement
The authors of this article have no financial and personal conflict of interest statement.
Data availability statement
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this manuscript.
Author contributions
MMS and BB designed the study. JM and FN supervised exercise training. BB and MMS supervised laboratory exams and data collection. MM, BM, and SK analysed and interpreted the data. MSM and MM wrote the first draft of the paper. QLS edited the paper. All authors contributed to the writing of the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.