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Trait Energy and Fatigue May Be Connected to Gut Bacteria among Young Physically Active Adults: An Exploratory Study, 2022, Boolani et al

Discussion in 'Other health news and research' started by Andy, Mar 15, 2022.

  1. Andy

    Andy Committee Member

    Messages:
    22,014
    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    Abstract

    Recent scientific evidence suggests that traits energy and fatigue are two unique unipolar moods with distinct mental and physical components. This exploratory study investigated the correlation between mental energy (ME), mental fatigue (MF), physical energy (PE), physical fatigue (PF), and the gut microbiome. The four moods were assessed by survey, and the gut microbiome and metabolome were determined from 16 S rRNA analysis and untargeted metabolomics analysis, respectively. Twenty subjects who were 31 ± 5 y, physically active, and not obese (26.4 ± 4.4 kg/m2) participated. Bacteroidetes (45%), the most prominent phyla, was only negatively correlated with PF. The second most predominant and butyrate-producing phyla, Firmicutes (43%), had members that correlated with each trait. However, the bacteria Anaerostipes was positively correlated with ME (0.048, p = 0.032) and negatively with MF (−0.532, p = 0.016) and PF (−0.448, p = 0.048), respectively. Diet influences the gut microbiota composition, and only one food group, processed meat, was correlated with the four moods—positively with MF (0.538, p = 0.014) and PF (0.513, p = 0.021) and negatively with ME (−0.790, p < 0.001) and PE (−0.478, p = 0.021). Only the Firmicutes genus Holdemania was correlated with processed meat (r = 0.488, p = 0.029). Distinct metabolic profiles were observed, yet these profiles were not significantly correlated with the traits. Study findings suggest that energy and fatigue are unique traits that could be defined by distinct bacterial communities not driven by diet. Larger studies are needed to confirm these exploratory findings.

    Open access, https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/3/466/htm
     
    Andy, Mar 15, 2022
    #1
    Sean, Midnattsol, Peter Trewhitt and 1 other person like this.
  2. Midnattsol

    Midnattsol Moderator Staff Member

    Messages:
    3,613
    The diet information in this study seems sketchy. Participants had previously been part of a study where stool samples were collected, and were now asked to recall what they ate 24 hours prior to that sample collection. When performing 24 hour recalls, just asking about yesterday can be problematic, never mind further back. And while bacteria can change rapidly, having only one day of dietary data does not seem enough to make any claims on whether correlations between bacteria and any "traits" are diet driven or not. Obviously it's nice to have another study saying one should eat whole foods and avoid processed foods, but...

    Only 20 participants were included in the metabolomics analyses, and with the focus on the participant's activity level I would have prefered a hip/waist measurement rather than BMI to assess body composition.

    I wish they would have included a loading plot in addition to the score plot (although I'm not a fan of the plots generated by MetaboAnalyst :p ), instead of just naming a few metabolites that contributed to the separation between groups. In my metabolomics diet data there were realy nice separation based on omega-3 supplement intake alone, those fatty acids compeltely dwarfed any other difference between participants, and being a bit prejudiced against people who work out a lot, there is plenty of different supplements used that could easily make an impact on the metabolome. Also if they were working out or not that day, had a carb loading day or a number of other things that is normal in some exercise groups.

    Another important issue with stool samples is that any metabolite that might be absorbed in the colon will likely be present in lower amounts, or not at all, in the stool sample, but it scould still have an effect on the cells of the gut lining or in the body.
     
    Midnattsol, Mar 15, 2022
    #2
    Amw66, TigerLilea, alktipping and 2 others like this.
  3. Creekside

    Creekside Senior Member (Voting Rights)

    Messages:
    987
    They're doing detailed statistical analysis on the subject' vague and varying judgements about their 'energy and fatigue levels'? Garbage in, garbage out. :rolleyes:


    Might as well publish the mathematical results from 1-5 ratings to 1000 decimal places. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
     
    Creekside, Mar 15, 2022
    #3
    Amw66, Midnattsol and TigerLilea like this.

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