The new frontier in doping - microbe doping

[Mark McM]

Performance-enhancing bacteria found in the microbiomes of elite athletes:

New research has identified a type of bacteria found in the microbiomes of elite athletes that contributes to improved capacity for exercise. These bacteria, members of the genus Veillonella, are not found in the guts of sedentary people.

By taking a closer look at the bacteria, the researchers from Joslin Diabetes Center determined Veillonella metabolizes lactic acid produced by exercise and converts it into propionate, a short chain fatty acid. The human body then utilizes that propionate to improve exercise capacity. The results were reported today in Nature Medicine.

"Having increased exercise capacity is a strong predictor of overall health and protection against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and overall longevity," says Aleksandar D. Kostic Ph.D., TITLE., a co-author on the paper. "What we envision is a probiotic supplement that people can take that will increase their ability to do meaningful exercise and therefore protect them against chronic diseases including diabetes."

Elite Athletes’ Gut Bacteria Give Rodent Runners a Boost:

The study began with an assessment of 15 runners and a comparison of bacterial strains present in their stool before and after they completed the Boston Marathon. The investigators identified a boost in the presence of species the bacterium Veillonella after the marathon, especially Veillonella atypica. They also found that these bacteria were more abundant in the marathoners as compared with 10 nonathletes. These bacteria use lactate and break it down into propionate.

Moving on to another group of athletes, ultramarathoners and Olympic trial rowers, the researchers got similar results: higher levels of Veillonella after an endurance competition. They also found that following the intense physical activity, stool samples from these athletes had higher levels of every bacterial gene involved in breaking down lactate to propionate.

Intrigued by their findings in people, study author George Church, a genetics professor at Harvard University, and his colleagues turned to mice to see what dosing with Veillonella or propionate would do to the animals’ treadmill performance. Oral Veillonella boosted rodent endurance on the treadmill, and rectal administration of propionate did so as well. In addition, the investigators established that lactate can cross from the blood into the gut, where Veillonella might act as a kind of lactate sponge.

The results of these investigations captured the attention of officials at antidoping agencies. “We will continue to eagerly follow those outcomes,” says Matt Fedoruk, chief science officer at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, particularly for whether they “unfairly influence competitive results.” Right now, he says, the study is an important first step in identifying possible links between gut bacteria and athletic performance.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says that the expert group that develops its “Prohibited List” of substances has yet to even discuss the potential performance-enhancing effects of gut microbiota species and their metabolites. James Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for the agency, says that the list evolves based on new findings and that WADA will pay close attention.

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

...Veillonella metabolizes lactic acid produced by exercise and converts it into propionate, a short chain fatty acid. The human body then utilizes that propionate to improve exercise capacity.

That. Is. Slick!

[joosttx]

Imagine genetically modifying gut bacteria to do this in spades...

[MattTuck]

I called this years ago

[cderalow]

the question would be, what would be considered a baseline value for this?

the study you'd have to do to come up with the typical range would not be fun.

literally sorting through ****.

[PQJ]

Originally Posted by cderalow

the question would be, what would be considered a baseline value for this?

One part Wiggins, four parts Froome, one part Thomas, added to the Skygimix in that order, and then blended on the Maillot Jaune setting.

[2LeftCleats]

Sign me up for a fecal transplant.

[Louis]

It wasn't Spanish beef, it was Spanish cow manure...

[cribbit]

At what point is it just good diet/supplements instead of doping? When do we start dictating the exact material intake of athletes?

I think the bigger question is what happens when we start creating these microbes in labs instead of finding them in nature. What if we breed this microbe to do this job even better? What if we create a different microbe that lives in the bloodstream and turns CO2 into O2?

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by cribbit

At what point is it just good diet/supplements instead of doping? When do we start dictating the exact material intake of athletes?

I think the bigger question is what happens when we start creating these microbes in labs instead of finding them in nature. What if we breed this microbe to do this job even better? What if we create a different microbe that lives in the bloodstream and turns CO2 into O2?

or... fecal transplants. I wonder how much people are willing to pay for an elite marathoners turd.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by joosttx

or... fecal transplants. I wonder how much people are willing to pay for an elite marathoners turd.

Packaged, or at mile 22? I'm down with collecting bidons on course, musettes, etc......but this is some next level shi..........




Seriously though: https://www.webmd.com/digestive-diso...al-transplants

It's a new frontier, and probably is the future, but I'm gonna give it a few more years before signing up.

[54ny77]

Maybe Chobani will offer a performance yogurt. Pomegranate in the bottom.

[Steve in SLO]

We are just scratching the surface of this area of science. The gut microbiome seems to have a powerful and modifying effect on myriad facets of our being, from exercise tolerance (as seen here) to neurotransmitters (think autism and mood disorders). It would not be surprising to discover it has effects on a number of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, rheumatoid disorders, etc. Watch this space in 5-10 years...it should be amazing.

[benb]

Correlation is not causation, it could be almost all of us have some of this and it only flourishes in your gut if you engage in lots of exercise.

So they could go transplant it into sedentary people and it might just die off since they were not metabolizing lactic acid. There's a lot of research suggesting bad eating & exercise habits reduce microbiome diversity.

If all you have to do to have this flourish in your biome is exercise a lot all the elites will probably have it and no one gets a boost by supplementing.

It's such early days for all this stuff.