Katagiri Kento, Koyama Soichiro, Takeda Kotaro, Yamada Kouji, Tan Koki, Kondo Hikaru, Otaka Yohei, Tanabe Shigeo
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, School of Medicine, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan.
Graduate School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2025 Sep 29;15(1):33423. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-18860-8.
Constipation is a prevalent condition that negatively impacts health and quality of life. Inadequate physical activity is a known contributing factor, often associated with reduced gut motility. However, the physiological mechanism linking physical activity and constipation remains unclear. Particularly research on the immediate effects of physical activity on peristalsis is scarce. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate this mechanism by examining the immediate effects of physical activity on gut motility in healthy adults. Twenty-one participants were instructed to walk on a treadmill for 20 min. Bowel sounds were assessed at rest and at intervals up to 15 min after walking. Bowel sounds were used as indirect markers of gut motility. We calculated the sum of the absolute signal amplitudes of bowel sounds, the percentage of bowel sounds duration, and number of discrete bowel sounds, which have been proposed as indices of gut motility. All the indices increased significantly 1-2 min post-exercise compared to resting values. This increase may be attributed to changes in the autonomic nervous system and local reflexes caused by biomechanical oscillations. In addition, gut motility activation might explain the effects of physical activity intervention on constipation and offer insights into its potential role in managing the condition.
便秘是一种普遍存在的病症，会对健康和生活质量产生负面影响。已知身体活动不足是一个促成因素，通常与肠道蠕动减弱有关。然而，身体活动与便秘之间的生理机制仍不清楚。特别是关于身体活动对蠕动的即时影响的研究很少。因此，我们旨在通过研究身体活动对健康成年人肠道蠕动的即时影响来阐明这一机制。21名参与者被指示在跑步机上行走20分钟。在休息时以及行走后长达15分钟的间隔时间评估肠鸣音。肠鸣音被用作肠道蠕动的间接指标。我们计算了肠鸣音绝对信号幅度的总和、肠鸣音持续时间的百分比以及离散肠鸣音的数量，这些已被提议作为肠道蠕动的指标。与静息值相比，运动后1 - 2分钟所有指标均显著增加。这种增加可能归因于生物力学振荡引起的自主神经系统和局部反射的变化。此外，肠道蠕动激活可能解释身体活动干预对便秘的影响，并为其在管理该病症中的潜在作用提供见解。
