In 32 healthy young men, 10-day protocols of heat/humidity equipment-assisted training, normal-temperature equipment-assisted training, and high-temperature HIIT were each associated with distinct gut microbiota, plasma metabolite-feature and cytokine patterns, but the study does not isolate the independent effect of exercise modality or establish causal microbiota-metabolite mechanisms.
Operational heat-tolerance training (HTT) achievement differed significantly across the four groups.
The HE, NE, and HIIT protocols were each associated with distinct gut microbiota compositional shifts.
The three exercise protocols showed characteristic plasma metabolic and cytokine profiles.
Exploratory within-group analyses reported lower heat stress-induced CCL2 responses in the HE and NE groups.
Multi-omics correlation analysis identified exploratory associations between gut microbiota and plasma metabolites that were related to exercise-related physiological responses.
The findings support protocol-specific physiological and multi-omics associations but do not isolate the independent effect of exercise modality or establish causal mechanisms.
This study followed 32 healthy young men for 10 days. They were split into four groups: training in hot and humid conditions with equipment, training with equipment at normal temperature, high-intensity interval training in the heat, and a control group that did not train. The researchers looked at gut bacteria, blood metabolites, and immune signaling molecules before and after. Each training protocol was linked to a different pattern of changes. For example, normal-temperature equipment training was associated with fewer Escherichia-Shigella bacteria and more Blautia and Dorea. The two equipment-assisted groups also showed lower rises in an immune molecule called CCL2 in response to heat stress. Seven of eight people in each equipment-assisted group met the study's heat-tolerance training criterion, compared with three of eight in the HIIT group and none in the control group. This research suggests that different exercise and temperature combinations may affect the gut microbiome and body chemistry in different ways. However, the groups were small, the analyses were exploratory, and the protocols differed in several ways at once. The study cannot say that exercise type alone caused the changes, or that gut bacteria caused the metabolic or immune effects. It is a starting point for future research.
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Upload Your LabsMa Q, Gu Z, Duan C, Shan N, Liu L, Xue L, et al.. (2026). Differences in health benefits and mechanisms of different exercise modes based on gut microbiota-metabolite interactions.. Journal of physiology and biochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13105-026-01251-6