Effect of 12-Week BMI-Based Vitamin D3 Supplementation in Parkinson's Disease with Deep Brain Stimulation on Physical Performance, Inflammation, and Vitamin D Metabolites.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. To manage motor symptoms not controlled adequately with medication, deep brain stimulation (DBS) is used. PD patients often manifest vitamin D deficiency, which may be connected with a higher risk of falls. We administered a 12-week vitamin D3 supplementation based on BMI (with higher doses given to patients with higher BMI) to investigate its effects on physical performance and inflammation status in PD patients with DBS. Patients were randomly divided into two groups: treated with vitamin D3 (VitD, n = 13), and supplemented with vegetable oil as the placebo group (PL, n = 16). Patients underwent functional tests to assess their physical performance three times during this study. The serum 25(OH)D3 concentration increased to the recommended level of 30 ng/mL in the VitD group, and a significant elevation in vitamin D metabolites in this group was found. We observed significant improvement in the Up and Go and the 6 MWT in the VitD group. In inflammation status, we noticed a trend toward a decrease in the VitD group. To conclude, achieving the optimal serum 25(OH)D3 concentration is associated with better functional test performance and consequently may have a positive impact on reducing falling risk in PD.

Current Aspects of Selected Factors to Modulate Brain Health and Sports Performance in Athletes.

This review offers a comprehensive evaluation of current aspects related to nutritional strategies, brain modulation, and muscle recovery, focusing on their applications and the underlying mechanisms of physiological adaptation for promoting a healthy brain, not only in athletes but also for recreationally active and inactive individuals. We propose that applying the rule, among others, of good sleep, regular exercise, and a properly balanced diet, defined as "SPARKS", will have a beneficial effect on the function and regeneration processes of the gut-brain-muscle axis. However, adopting the formula, among others, of poor sleep, stress, overtraining, and dysbiosis, defined as "SMOULDER", will have a detrimental impact on the function of this axis and consequently on human health as well as on athletes. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for optimizing brain health and cognitive function. This review highlights the significance of these factors for overall well-being, suggesting that adopting the "SPARKS" approach may benefit not only athletes but also older adults and individuals with health conditions.

Effects of Probiotics and Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Sports Performance Markers in Male Mixed Martial Arts Athletes: A Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Strategies targeted at the intestine microbiome seem to be beneficial for professional athletes. The gut-muscle axis is associated with the inflammatory state, glucose metabolism, mitochondrial function, and central nervous system health. All these mechanisms may affect maximal oxygen uptake, muscle strength, and training adaptation. Moreover, the positive effect of certain bacterial strains may be enhanced by vitamin D. Thus, this study aimed to assess and compare the level of selected markers of sports performance of mixed martial arts (MMA) athletes supplemented with vitamin D3 or probiotics combined with vitamin D3. METHODS: A 4-week randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted with 23 MMA male athletes assigned to the vitamin D3 group (Vit D; n = 12) or probiotics + vitamin D3 group (PRO + VitD; n = 11). Repeated measures of the creatine kinase level, lactate utilization ratio, and anaerobic performance were conducted. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of supplementation, we found lower lactate concentrations 60 min after the acute sprint interval in the PRO + VitD group when compared to the Vit D group (4.73 ± 1.62 and 5.88 ± 1.55 mmol/L; p < 0.05). In addition, the intervention improved the total work (232.00 ± 14.06 and 240.72 ± 13.38 J kg-1; p < 0.05), and mean power following the anaerobic exercise protocol (7.73 ± 0.47 and 8.02 ± 0.45 W kg-1; p < 0.05) only in the PRO + VitD group. Moreover, there was an improvement in the lactate utilization ratio in the PRO + VitD group compared with the Vit D group as shown by the percentage of T60/T3 ratio (73.6 ± 6.9 and 65.1 ± 9.9%, respectively; p < 0.05). We also observed elevated serum 25(OH)D3 concentrations after acute sprint interval exercise in both groups, however, there were no significant differences between the groups. CONCLUSION: Four weeks of combined probiotic and vitamin D3 supplementation enhanced lactate utilization and beneficially affected anaerobic performance in MMA athletes.