Abstract
BACKGROUND: The physical activity of different groups of individuals results in the rearrangement of microbiota composition toward a symbiotic microbiota profile. This applies to both healthy and diseased individuals. Multiple myeloma (MM), one of the more common hematological malignancies, predominantly affects older adults. Identifying an appropriate form of physical activity for this patient group remains a challenge. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a 6-week Nordic walking (NW) training program combined with a 10/14 time-restricted eating regimen on the gut microbiota composition of multiple myeloma patients. METHODS: This study included healthy individuals as the control group (n = 16; mean age: 62.19 ± 5.4) and patients with multiple myeloma in remission (MM group; n = 16; mean age: 65.00 ± 5.13; mean disease duration: 57 months). The training intervention was applied to the patient group and consisted of three moderate-intensity sessions per week, individually tailored to the estimated physical capacity of each participant. The taxonomic composition was determined via 16S rRNA sequencing (V3-V9 regions). The microbiota composition was compared between the patient group and the control group. RESULTS: The alpha and beta diversity metrics for species and genus levels differed significantly between the control and patient groups before the implementation of the NW program. In contrast, no differences were observed between the control and patient groups after the training cycle, indicating that the patients' microbiota changed toward the pattern of the control group. This is confirmed by the lowest values of average dissimilarity between the MMB groups and the control at all taxonomic levels, as well as the highest one between the control group and the MMA patient group. The gut microbiota of the patients was predominantly represented by the phyla Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. CONCLUSIONS: The training, combined with time-restricted eating, stimulated an increase in the biodiversity and taxonomic rearrangement of the gut microbiota species.