Table 3.
Amino acids and immune biomarkers in 29 athletes before and after 12 weeks of treatment either supplemented with probiotics or placebo measured before (PRE) and after exercise (POST).
| Probiotics (n = 14) | Baseline PRE | Baseline POST | Week 12 PRE | Week 12 POST |
| Tryptophan (µmol/L) | 70.07 ± 3.20 a,e | 57.99 ± 2.47 b | 68.64 ± 2.12 c,k | 58.76 ± 2.11 d |
| Kynurenine (µmol/L) | 1.98 ± 0.11 | 1.97 ± 0.07 | 1.83 ± 0.10 | 1.92 ± 0.11 |
| Kyn/Trp (µmol/mmol) | 28.35 ± 1.16 f | 34.50 ± 1.46 | 26.94 ± 1.51 l | 33.32 ± 2.19 |
| Neopterin (nmol/L) | 5.19 ± 0.23 g | 8.43 ± 1.00 | 4.92 ± 0.31 m | 7.74 ± 0.86 |
| Tyrosine (µmol/L) | 138.58 ± 29.96 h | 145.06 ± 6.23 | 147.25 ± 24.01 n | 149.22 ± 5.60 |
| Phenylalanine (µmol/L) | 69.59 ± 8.27 i | 68.72 ± 2.06 | 72.16 ± 1.99 o | 71.76 ± 1.90 |
| Phe/Tyr (mol/mol) | 0.52 ± 0.08 j | 0.48 ± 0.01 | 0.50 ± 0.03 p | 0.49 ± 0.02 |
| Placebo (n = 15) | Baseline PRE | Baseline POST | Week 12 PRE | Week 12 POST |
| Tryptophan (µmol/L) | 62.27 ± 1.72 | 58.27 ± 2.37 | 61.50 ± 1.84 | 52.26 ± 1.86 |
| Kynurenine (µmol/L) | 1.77 ± 0.13 | 2.02 ± 0.07 | 1.75 ± 0.08 | 1.77 ± 0.09 |
| Kyn/Trp (µmol/mmol) | 28.38 ± 1.81 | 34.49 ± 2.17 | 28.49 ± 1.03 | 34.03 ± 1.51 |
| Neopterin (nmol/L) | 6.63 ± 0.95 | 10.48 ± 1.56 | 5.65 ± 0.70 | 9.55 ± 2.06 |
| Tyrosine (µmol/L) | 131.15 ± 5.28 | 137.40 ± 5.42 | 126.41 ± 6.29 | 129.28 ± 5.76 |
| Phenylalanine (µmol/L) | 69.23 ± 2.45 | 68.55 ± 1.87 | 72.53 ± 1.67 | 70.09 ± 2.71 |
| Phe/Tyr (mol/mol) | 0.53 ± 0.02 | 0.50 ± 0.02 | 0.59 ± 0.03 | 0.55 ± 0.02 |
Values are means ± SEM. a U = 2.095, p = 0.036 (baseline PRE placebo vs. probiotics), b U = 0.284, p = 0.777 (baseline POST placebo vs. probiotics), c U = 2.706, p = 0.007 (week 12 PRE placebo vs. probiotics), d U = 2.139, p = 0.032 (week 12 POST placebo vs. probiotics), e U = 3.384, p = 0.001 (all athletes baseline PRE vs. POST), f U = 4.660, p < 0.001 (all athletes baseline PRE vs. POST), g U = 4.420, p < 0.001 (all athletes baseline PRE vs. POST), h U = 2.011, p = 0.044 (all athletes week 12 PRE vs. POST), i U = 0.270, p = 0.787 (all athletes week 12 PRE vs. post), j U = 3.357, p = 0.001 (all athletes week 12 PRE vs. post), k U = 4.703, p < 0.001 (all athletes week 12 PRE vs. POST), l U = 4.433, p < 0.001 (all athletes week 12 PRE vs. post), m U = 4.544, p < 0.001 (all athletes week 12 PRE vs. post), n U = 0.443, p = 0.658 (all athletes week 12 PRE vs. post), o U = 0.660, p = 0.510 (all athletes week 12 PRE vs. post), p U = 1.208, p = 0.227 (all athletes week 12 PRE vs. post).