INTRODUCTION: Obesity is a known risk factor for the development of insulin resistance and other cardiometabolic disorders. Recently, the gut microbiome has been associated with obesity and subsequent health complications. Exercise has been regularly utilized as a therapeutic intervention to treat obesity and its associated comorbidities. This study aimed to examine the effects of resistance training exercise (RT) on the diversity, composition, and metabolic pathways of the gut microbiome. METHODS: Sedentary young adults (age 18-35 years) with overweight and obesity (BMI 25-45 kg/m2) were recruited to participate in this randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomized into 1 of 2 groups: RT (n=16), a 6-week resistance training program (3 days/week), or control (CT) (n=16), a non-exercising control. Main outcomes of the study included gut microbiome measures (composition, diversity, and pathways) and cardiometabolic outcomes (blood pressure and glucoregulation). RESULTS: Notable findings include an increased abundance of Roseburia genus, a SCFA producer, and microbial starch and sucrose metabolism pathway over 6 weeks with RT in comparison to CT (group x week, p<0.05, q<0.25). Moreover, RT resulted in higher QUICKI and lower diastolic blood pressure at W6 compared to CT (BL-adjusted p<0.05). Correlation analyses demonstrate a trend for a moderately positive correlation of Roseburia with QUICKI (r=0.48, p<0.1) in the RT group at W6. CONCLUSION: This study provides preliminary evidence that resistance training induces positive changes in the gut microbiome and cardiometabolic health. Additionally, the microbiome-glucoregulation associations suggest the potential involvement of the microbiome in host glucoregulation which could have important clinical implications.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

NCT04906525

This study did not receive any funding

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

IRB of University of Missouri-Columbia gave ethical approval for this work.

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.

Yes

All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors