Effects Of Probiotic Supplement On Cytokines Response While Cycling In The Heat

PURPOSE: Determine the effects of a probiotic supplement on inflammation associated with cycling in the heat. METHODS: 21 men (21 ± 2 yrs; 73.3 ± 13.5 kg; 177.9 ± 8.5 cm, 3.49 ± 0.58 L·min-1) completed this double blind, between subjects study. Individuals were assigned to one of three groups: 14 days of placebo (PL), three (P3), or 14 days of probiotic supplement (P14). Initially, participants provided informed consent, were assessed for anthropometrics and a cycling VO2max. At least 72-hours later, individuals provided a baseline (BL) blood sample following a 10-hour fast. After supplementation, individuals completed a 90-minute cycling trial in 35 °C and a 5 km cycling time trial in a thermoneutral room. Blood samples were collected before exercise (PRE), immediately post exercise (IP), post time trial (PTT), 24 (24H) and 48 hours (48H) post exercise. Samples were assessed for concentrations of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), interleukin (IL) 6 and IL10. Two separate repeated measures ANOVAs were used to assess changes in cytokines between BL and PRE and the acute exercise response from PRE to IP, PTT, 24H and 48H. RESULTS: No significant interaction, nor main effect for group or time was observed between BL and PRE. A significant interaction (F = 6.71, p < 0.001) was present for IL6. Concentrations increased at IP and PTT for all conditions (p ≤ 0.05), though increases in P14 were greater than PL or P3 (p ≤ 0.05). No significant interaction (F = 2.51, p = 0.096) was observed for TNFα, though a main effect of time (F = 312.095 p < 0.05) was with increased concentrations at IP (p ≤ 0.05) and PTT (p ≤ 0.05) relative to PRE. For IL10, no significant interaction (F = 0.58, p = 0.68) was observed but a main effect of time (F = 2.951, p = 0.026) was, with increased IL10 from PRE to IP (p ≤ 0.05) and PTT (p ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSION: Probiotic supplementation did not reduce the TNFα response to cycling in the heat, but 14 days of supplementation augmented the IL6 response. - Data are presented as mean ± SD. *Different from PRE, ^Different from P14 BL PRE IP PTT 24H 48H TNF-α PL 0.83 ± 0.22 0.79 ± 0.23 3.89 ± 1.20* 4.13 ± 1.20* 0.80 ± 0.26 0.82 ± 0.24 P3 0.61 ± 0.11 0.69 ± 0.15 3.59 ± 0.79* 3.50 ± 0.73* 0.66 ± 0.08 0.61 ± 0.09 P14 0.85 ± 0.17 0.84 ± 0.16 4.70 ± 0.85* 4.70 ± 0.72* 0.84 ± 0.19 0.81 ± 0.21 IL-6 PL 1.10 ± 1.07 0.46 ± 0.10 3.17 ± 1.12*^ 2.64 ± 0.70*^ 0.53 ± 0.14 0.58 ± 0.31 P3 0.29 ± 0.16 0.46 ± 0.23 3.03 ± 1.46*^ 1.93 ± 0.71*^ 0.26 ± 0.16 0.22 ± 0.17 P14 0.51 ± 0.36 0.68 ± 0.23 7.10 ± 3.19* 5.77 ± 3.00* 0.59 ± 0.39 0.44 ± 0.30 IL-10 PL 0.36 ± 0.37 0.31 ± 0.24 0.60 ± 0.63* 1.19 ± 1.50* 0.17 ± 0.25 0.16 ± 0.23 P3 0.19 ± 0.21 0.32 ± 0.28 0.65 ± 0.51* 0.83 ± 1.01* 0.25 ± 0.35 0.45 ± 0.72 P14 0.46 ± 0.76 0.03 ± 0.28 1.05 ± 0.92* 2.16 ± 2.61* 0.29 ± 0.32 1.42 ± 3.22 This project was funded by iHealth Inc