Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33201454›Full record

SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2021

The Effects of Exercise on Indirect Markers of Gut Damage and Permeability: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Sarah Chantler, Alex Griffiths, Jamie Matu, Glen Davison, Ben Jones, Kevin Deighton

Open access · hybridAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
55citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
3.9field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

55 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Effects ofFrontiers in nutrition · 2026
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  19. Implications of leaky gut in cattle.Animal frontiers : the review magazine of animal agriculture · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Sarah ChantlerCarnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure, Leeds Beckett University, Cavendish G08, Headingley Campus, Leeds, LS6 3QT, UK. s.a.chantler@leedsbeckett.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3215-092X
Alex GriffithsCarnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure, Leeds Beckett University, Cavendish G08, Headingley Campus, Leeds, LS6 3QT, UK.
Jamie MatuSchool of Clinical and Applied Sciences, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
Glen DavisonEndurance Research Group, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
Ben JonesCarnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure, Leeds Beckett University, Cavendish G08, Headingley Campus, Leeds, LS6 3QT, UK.
Kevin DeightonCarnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure, Leeds Beckett University, Cavendish G08, Headingley Campus, Leeds, LS6 3QT, UK.
Leeds Beckett University · GBUniversity of Cape Town · ZAUniversity of Kent · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimExercise appears to cause damage to the endothelial lining of the human gastrointestinal tract and elicit a significant increase in gut permeability.

objectiveThe aim of this review was to determine the effect of an acute bout of exercise on gut damage and permeability outcomes in healthy populations using a meta-analysis.

methodsPubMed, The Cochrane Library as well as MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus and CINHAL, via EBSCOhost were searched through February 2019. Studies were selected that evaluated urinary (ratio of disaccharide/monosaccharide excretion) or plasma markers [intestinal Fatty Acid Binding Protein (i-FABP)] of gut permeability and gut cell damage in response to a single bout of exercise.

resultsA total of 34 studies were included. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed, and showed a large and moderate effect size for markers of gut damage (i-FABP) (ES 0.81; 95% CI 0.63-0.98; n = 26; p < 0.001) and gut permeability (Disaccharide Sugar/Monosaccharide Sugar) (ES 0.70; 95% CI 0.29-1.11; n = 17; p < 0.001), respectively. Exercise performed in hot conditions (> 23 °C) further increased markers of gut damage compared with thermoneutral conditions [ES 1.06 (95% CI 0.88-1.23) vs. 0.66 (95% CI 0.43-0.89); p < 0.001]. Exercise duration did not have any significant effect on gut damage or permeability outcomes.

conclusionsThese findings demonstrate that a single bout of exercise increases gut damage and gut permeability in healthy participants, with gut damage being exacerbated in hot environments. Further investigation into nutritional strategies to minimise gut damage and permeability after exercise is required. PROSPERO database number (CRD42018086339).

Indexed as

ExerciseGastrointestinal TractBiomarkersDisaccharidesHumansPermeabilityBiomarkersDisaccharides

Identifiers

PMID33201454
PMCPMC7806566
OpenAlexW3098663849

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.