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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Microbiota Analysis Using Two-step PCR and Next-generation 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing
Published on: October 15, 2019
Gut microbiota and pre-competitive anxiety in high-performance taekwondo athletes during pre-competition training: an
Lihui Xie1, Xuelian Chen1, Xinyi Wan1
1School of Physical Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
Objective:
Gut microbiota has been implicated in exercise adaptation and emotional regulation, but evidence from high-performance athletes during closed pre-competition training remains limited. This exploratory pilot study examined changes in gut microbiota and competition anxiety across an 8-week pre-competition training period in high-performance taekwondo athletes and explored their associations.
Methods:
Eleven high-performance taekwondo athletes (6 men and 5 women) preparing for the 31st FISU World University Games were assessed before training and again at week 8. Stool samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA V3-V4 sequencing, and competition anxiety was measured with the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2). Given the small single-group repeated-measures design, all microbiome analyses were treated as exploratory. Paired Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used for displayed pre-post comparisons, and PERMANOVA was applied to the reconstructed beta-diversity coordinate set.
Results:
Shannon alpha diversity showed no clear pre-post difference (Wilcoxon p = 0.278), and the reconstructed PCoA coordinate set showed no significant overall separation (PERMANOVA R2 = 0.028, p = 0.647). Exploratory differential-abundance screening highlighted several candidate taxa, with the strongest signals in the reconstructed dataset observed for Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, norank_f__Muribaculaceae, and Bosea. According to the archived CSAI-2 analysis, cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety were higher after the preparation period, whereas state self-confidence did not differ significantly. Additional taxa-anxiety associations were observed in the originally reported association subset, but these should be interpreted as nominal exploratory findings only.
Conclusion:
In this small single-group pilot cohort, the pre-competition period was accompanied by shifts in selected gut microbiota features and by higher pre-competition anxiety-related responses, particularly in the cognitive and somatic domains.
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