Probiotic Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Tana Isolated from an International Weightlifter Enhances Exercise Performance and Promotes Antifatigue Effects in Mice

Exercise causes changes in the gut microbiota, and in turn, the composition of the gut microbiota affects exercise performance. In addition, the supplementation of probiotics is one of the most direct ways to change the gut microbiota. In recent years, the development and application of human-origin probiotics has gradually attracted attention. Therefore, we obtained intestinal Lactiplantibacillus plantarum “Tana” from a gold-medal-winning weightlifter, who has taken part in various international competitions such as the World Championships and the Olympic Games, to investigate the benefits of Tana supplementation for improving exercise performance and promoting antifatigue effects in mice. A total of 40 male Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice were divided into four groups (10 mice/group): (1) vehicle (0 CFU/mice/day), (2) Tana-1× (6.15 × 10⁷ CFU/mice/day), (3) Tana-2× (1.23 × 10⁸ CFU /mice/day), and (4) Tana-5× (3.09 × 10⁸ CFU/mice/day). After four weeks of Tana supplementation, we found that the grip strength, endurance exercise performance, and glycogen storage in the liver and muscle were significantly improved compared to those in the vehicle group (p < 0.05). In addition, supplementation with Tana had significant effects on fatigue-related biochemical markers; lactate, ammonia, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels and creatine kinase (CK) activity were significantly lowered (p < 0.05). We also found that the improved exercise performance and antifatigue benefits were significantly dose-dependent on increasing doses of Tana supplementation (p < 0.05), which increased the abundance and ratio of beneficial bacteria in the gut. Taken together, Tana supplementation for four weeks was effective in improving the gut microbiota, thereby enhancing exercise performance, and had antifatigue effects. Furthermore, supplementation did not cause any physiological or histopathological damage.