Probiotics are increasingly being used as a nutritional supplement by athletes to improve exercise performance and reduce post-exercise fatigue. Lactobacillus salivarius is a natural flora in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals. Lactobacillus salivarius subspecies salicinius (SA-03) is an isolate from the 2008 Olympic women's 48 kg weightlifting gold medalist's gut microbiota. In this study, we investigated its beneficial effects on physical fitness. Male ICR mice were divided into four groups (n = 10 per group) and orally administered with SA-03 for 4 weeks at 0, 2.05 × 109, 4.10 × 109, or 1.03 × 1010 CFU/kg/day. Results showed that 4 weeks of SA-03 supplementation significantly improved muscle strength and endurance performance, increased hepatic and muscular glycogen storage, and decreased lactate, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), ammonia, and creatine kinase (CK) levels after exercise. These observations suggest that SA-03 could be used as a nutritional supplement to enhance exercise performance and reduce.
Keywords: Lactobacillus; SA-03; exercise performance; nutritional supplement; probiotic; weightlifting.