EXERCISE'S LASTING EFFECTS: Although many metabolites have been profiled in muscles, the impact of exercise on the levels of these compounds in blood plasma has remained less clear. A new large-scale study begins to describe some of the correlations they seem to have with physical fitness level.
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The virtues of exercise are myriad: better cardiovascular health, decreased risk for diabetes, boosted mood, and even perhaps a leaner physique. But aside from such macro links and knowledge about the heart rates, blood–oxygen levels and hormonal responses related to exercise, scientists have a relatively cursory understanding of the chemical mechanisms at work in the body during and after physical activity.
A new study, published online May 26 in Science Translational Medicine, presents a thorough profile of exercise's impact on the human body's metabolites in plasma—and reveals vast biological differences among more- and less-fit individuals. The findings also reinforce links between exercise and insulin sensitivity as well as point to new ways to enhance exercise for both healthy individuals and those suffering from cardiovascular or metabolic diseases.
"We've known for a long time that exercise protects against metabolic and cardiovascular disease," says Robert Gerszten, director of Translational Research in the Cardiology Division at Massachusetts General Hospital, and co-author of the new study. "But how these effects occur is not entirely clear. Exercise physiology is surprisingly very poorly understood."
Predictive patterns
Gerszten and his colleagues measured more than 200 metabolites, small chemicals involved in the body's metabolism, using mass spectrometry in individuals before and after exercise. The team found that people who were more and less fit had vastly different metabolite profiles across a wide range of exercise durations—from 10 minutes of treadmill running to completion of the Boston Marathon.
And even in those who exercised for just 10 minutes, their metabolite profile was still being affected an hour later, which suggests that exercise sparks "long-term signals [and] that we're just beginning to scratch the tip of the iceberg," Gerszten says.
Across all groups, after exercise the researchers saw an increase in certain metabolites, such as glycerol, that are involved in the breakdown of fatty tissue as well as a decrease in allantoin, which is linked to oxidative stress. But not all changes were equal. Glycerol levels increased much more in fitter people (as assessed by peak oxygen uptake). In leaner subjects (with body mass indexes, or BMIs, less than 28), levels of niacinamide, a metabolite that increases sensitivity to insulin, increased more than twice as much as it did in larger individuals.
Not all of these changes were a surprise, however. "Many of [them] were not a surprise and have been shown before" in muscle, says Robert Hickner, director of the PhD Program in Bioenergetics and Exercise Science at East Carolina University in Greenville, who was not involved in the study. "It's not that surprising that you see the higher glycerol response" in fit people, he notes, because they have been shown to have higher rates of fat breakdown.
Gerszten and his team also found that some of the metabolites that were changed with exercise also could be applied to a broader population correlated with cardiovascular health. "Some of those metabolic changes in acute exercise also turn out to be predictive of fitness in a large epidemiological cohort," he says. Of the dozen of these metabolites that were measured in cohorts from the longitudinal Framingham Heart Study (the long-term 1948 study to identify the common contributive factors of cardiovascular disease by following its development in a large subject group) levels of glycerol turned out to be "significantly correlated" with resting heart rate, another indicator of fitness, as measured in the study.
The next question to answer will be whether these biomarkers also predict long-term disease and mortality risk, Gerszten says. And if they do, he notes, they could help doctors do a better job at finding at-risk populations and make suggestions for preventive health interventions.
"There's certainly room for a good test to predict disease," Hickner says. And the quest for new biomarkers continues: "The question is can we find better ones," he says. "I don't think they've come upon any in this study."
Deeper mechanisms
Beyond the fluctuation in metabolite levels, the new study also found that they can work together to influence gene expression. By exposing muscle in vitro to a combination of metabolites, the researchers found that transcription factor nur77, which has recently been linked to lipid metabolism and glucose use, was upregulated (but had remained unchanged when exposed to only singular metabolites). "This shows you that metabolites are going to act in very unanticipated ways," Gerszten says.
He cautions, however, that, "this is an early study, but it does give us a lot of insight into what some of the functional players might be." Gerszten and his colleagues are now looking into the role of genetics in determining an individual's plasma metabolite profile.
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10 Comments
Add CommentNext: Take a pill - you got your daily exercise.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPharmacological Companies: 10 different pills, the slow walk pill to ultra marathon pill.
We're a do nothing kind of species.
Next: Exercise and cure your cynicism? Exercise might do that since it can enhance mood.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNext: Exercise and cure your cynicism? Exercise might help do that since it can enhance mood.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNext: Exercise and cure your cynicism? Exercise might do that since it can enhance mood.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNext: A script to keep people from triple posting?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisscientific earthling - This species that likes to sit on its ass is also the one that has created all the modern miracles (and nightmares) you see around you. You're focusing on the one trait that lets you be a cynic right now.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisbobsmith1234 - Yes, I think AM should have a popup that says something like, "Let's wait for your first post to clear before starting another one ".
Well, now I'm doing it. SciAm, not AM.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this>"It's very hard to find supplements that improve performance other than water, glucose, carbohydrates,"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCaffeine, creatine, beta-alanine. But that's about it - on the legal side anyway.
quincykim: The advancements and wonders you are talking about are the work of the few.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHave you ever worked in an organisation and observed your fellow workers? How many of them really did what they were supposed to do? What about your boss or his boss?
Most of the nightmares I see are created by greedy lazy people who just want, they expect everyone to respect their rights, they respect no-one else's. The GFC is a good example of the unethical and wicked getting away with stealing the wealth and well-being of the majority. Nice to know they are going to die from a long suffering ailment, because they have the money to extend their lives beyond its normal end.
The UltraMarathon runners in Christopher McDougall's book, 'Born to Run' point out that running shoes cause injuries and the more the expense; the more the injuries. Their recommendation: Vibram 5 finger shoes which are gloves for the feet w/ a thin flat sole for protection. My hip and back pains went away and my distance was signigicantly increased. Watch for achilles tendon injuries if you change over to these in midseason, tho, as heel cushions in typical shoes keep these from development. The article above might also have mentioned that the fit have longer telomeres for their age brackets; some by 20 years.
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