Gut Microbiome Diversity and Composition Differences Between Adolescent Endurance Athletes and Sedentary Age-Matched Controls

Research on exercise-associated gut microbiome remodeling in adolescent populations represents a priority area within exercise physiology and gut microbiome research, with direct implications for youth sports medicine and microbiome-targeted health interventions. This study applies 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing (V3-V4 region) and bioinformatic analysis via QIIME2 to characterize exercise-driven enrichment of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacterial taxa in 98 adolescents aged 14-18 years (49 endurance athletes, 49 sedentary controls) obtained from high school athletic and sedentary populations in the greater Philadelphia area. Standardized protocols ensured analytical reproducibility across all specimen categories. Results demonstrate that adolescent endurance athletes display significantly higher alpha-diversity and distinct beta-diversity profiles compared with sedentary peers (p = 0.003), with 62.2% of specimens exhibiting the primary phenotype of interest. Concordance between primary and confirmatory analytical approaches exceeded 94%, validating the principal assay platform for this application. These findings advance the empirical foundation for exercise physiology and gut microbiome research and carry direct implications for the design of surveillance and intervention programs targeting exercise-driven enrichment of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacterial taxa within adolescent developmental periods with distinct hormonal and dietary environments.