Temporal stability and lack of variance in microbiome composition and functionality in fit recreational athletes
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Published Version
Date
2025
Authors
O’ Donovan, Ciara M.
Nori, Sai Ravi Chandra
Shanahan, Fergus
Celentano, Gerardina
Murphy, Thomas Brendan
Cotter, Paul D.
Sullivan, Orla O’
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nature Research
Published Version
Abstract
Human gut microbiome composition and function is influenced by environmental and lifestyle factors, including exercise and fitness. We studied the composition and functionality of the faecal microbiome of recreational (non-elite) runners (n = 62) with serial shotgun metagenomics, at 4 time points over a 7-week period. Gut microbiome composition and function was stable over time. Grouping of samples on the basis of their fitness level (fair, good, excellent, and superior) or habitual training (low (4–6 h/week), medium (7–9 h/week), high (10–12 h/week), and extreme (13 + hours/week)) revealed no significant microbiome-related differences. Overall, the species Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Blautia wexlerae, and Prevotella copri were the most abundant members of the gut microbiome. Analysis of co-abundance groups (CAGs) revealed no significant relationship between CAGs and fitness levels or training subgroups. Functional pathways were similar across all samples and timepoints with no clustering based on associated metadata. The most abundant genes identified within samples corresponded to pathways for nucleoside and nucleotide biosynthesis, amino acid biosynthesis, and cell wall biosynthesis. Collectively, these results describe the microbiome of active recreational runners and note temporal stability amongst participants. © The Author(s) 2025.
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Keywords
Athletes , Faecal microbiome , Fitness , Running
Citation
O’Donovan, C. M., Nori, S. R. C., Shanahan, F., Celentano, G., Murphy, T. B., Cotter, P. D. and Sullivan, O. O. (2025) 'Temporal stability and lack of variance in microbiome composition and functionality in fit recreational athletes', Scientific Reports, 15(1), p.5619. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-88723-9