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.

Physical activity undertaken by different groups of individuals results in the rearrangement of microbiota composition towards a symbiotic microbiota profile. This applies to both healthy and diseased individuals. Multiple myeloma (MM), one of the more common hematological malig-nancies, predominantly affects older adults. Identifying an appropriate form of physical activity for this patient group remains a challenge. The aim of the 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. The 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. Taxonomic composition was determined using 16S rRNA sequencing (V3-V9 regions). The microbiota composition was compared between the patient group and the control group. The gut microbiota of the patients was predominantly represented by the phyla Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. The training, combined with intermittent fasting, stimulated an increase in biodiversity and taxonomic rearrangement of gut microbiota species. The observed changes confirm the safety and beneficial effects of the proposed intervention in the patient group during the plateau phase of multiple myeloma.

Vitamin C supplementation and exercise influence pro/antioxidative status and the cellular stress response. We tested the effects of exercise training for 6 weeks, supported by 1000 mg of vitamin C supplementation in elderly women. Thirty-six women were divided into two groups: a control group (CON) (n = 18, age 69.4 ± 6.4 years, 70.4 ±10.4 kg body mass) and a supplemented group (SUPP) (n = 18, aged 67.7 ± 5.6 years, body mass 71.46 ± 5.39 kg). Blood samples were taken twice (at baseline and 24 h after the whole period of training), in order to determine vitamin C concentration, the total oxidative status/capacity (TOS/TOC), total antioxidant status/capacity (TAS/TAC), and gene expression associated with cellular stress response: encoding heat shock factor (HSF1), heat shock protein 70 (HSPA1A), heat shock protein 27 (HSPB1), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). We observed a significant increase in TOS/TOC, TAS/TAC, and prooxidant/antioxidant balance in the SUPP group. There was a significant decrease in HSPA1A in the CON group and a different tendency in the expression of HSF1 and TNF-α between groups. In conclusion, vitamin C supplementation enhanced the pro-oxidation in elderly women with a normal plasma vitamin C concentration and influenced minor changes in training adaptation gene expression.

Background/Objectives: Rearrangement of the gut microbiota toward a symbiotic profile may be influenced by physical activity and diet in both healthy and obese individuals. This study aimed to characterize gut microbiota using next-generation sequencing (NGS) and to evaluate the effect of a 6-week Nordic Walking (NW) program combined with Time-Restricted Eating (TRE; 10 h eating window) in individuals with obesity. Methods: The study included healthy controls (C; n = 10; 64.7 ± 6.7 years) and individuals with obesity (A; n = 10; 60.0 ± 4.5 years). The intervention consisted of three moderate-intensity NW sessions per week, individually adapted to participants’ capacity. Gut microbiota was analyzed using nanopore 16S rRNA sequencing (V3–V9 regions). Results: Baseline microbial composition differed significantly between obese and control groups, with Bray–Curtis dissimilarity ranging from 49.98% (phylum) to 65.97% (species) (p ≤ 0.02). After intervention, within-group dissimilarity in the obese cohort (A vs. B) decreased to 25.24–51.86% but was not significant (p = 0.88–1.00). Post-intervention comparisons (B vs. C) still showed significant differences at higher taxonomic levels, including class (44.10%, p = 0.015), order (31.62%, p = 0.022), family (50.48%, p = 0.011), genus (58.09%, p = 0.005), and species (63.47%, p = 0.0003). Alpha diversity showed no significant differences at species and genus levels, but significant group effects were observed at higher ranks, including order (Shannon p = 0.01; Simpson p = 0.01), class (Simpson p = 0.02), and phylum (Shannon p = 0.02). Conclusions: The NW + TRE intervention was associated with partial normalization of gut microbiota structure and reduced microbial dissimilarity, suggesting a shift toward a more symbiotic profile; however, differences compared with controls persisted, indicating incomplete convergence after 6 weeks.