Serum metabolomic response to exercise training in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Hepatic Metabolic Profiling of Lifelong Exercise Training Rats

Regular physical exercise has been investigated as a primary preventive measure of several chronic diseases and premature death. Moreover, it has been shown to synchronize responses across multiple organs. In particular, hepatic tissue has proven to be a descriptive matrix to monitor the effect of physical activity. In this study, we performed an untargeted metabolomics-based analysis of hepatic tissue extracts from rats that have undergone either lifelong or chronic exercise training. For this purpose, 56 hepatic samples were collected and were analyzed by UHPLC-TOF-MS in negative ionization mode. This approach involved untargeted metabolite detection on hepatic tissue extracts accompanied by an in-house retention time/accurate mass library enabling confident metabolite identification. Unsupervised (PCA) and supervised (OPLS-DA) multivariate analysis showed significant metabolic perturbation on a panel of 28 metabolites, including amino acids, vitamins, nucleotides, and sugars. The training regime employed in this study resulted in a probable acceleration of the bioenergetic processes (glycolysis, glycogen metabolism), promoted catabolism of purines, and supplied biosynthetic precursors via the pentose phosphate pathway and pentose and glucuronate interconversions. Overall, the applied methodology was able to discriminate the different training schedules based on the rat liver metabolome.

How Perturbated Metabolites in Diabetes Mellitus Affect the Pathogenesis of Hypertension?

The presence of hypertension (HTN) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common phenomenon in more than half of the diabetic patients. Since HTN constitutes a predictor of vascular complications and cardiovascular disease in type 2 DM patients, it is of significance to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms of type 2 DM binding to HTN. This review attempts to understand the mechanism via the perspective of the metabolites. It reviewed the metabolic perturbations, the biological function of perturbated metabolites in two diseases, and the mechanism underlying metabolic perturbation that contributed to the connection of type 2 DM and HTN. DM-associated metabolic perturbations may be involved in the pathogenesis of HTN potentially in insulin, angiotensin II, sympathetic nervous system, and the energy reprogramming to address how perturbated metabolites in type 2 DM affect the pathogenesis of HTN. The recent integration of the metabolism field with microbiology and immunology may provide a wider perspective. Metabolism affects immune function and supports immune cell differentiation by the switch of energy. The diverse metabolites produced by bacteria modified the biological process in the inflammatory response of chronic metabolic diseases either. The rapidly evolving metabolomics has enabled to have a better understanding of the process of diseases, which is an important tool for providing some insight into the investigation of diseases mechanism. Metabolites served as direct modulators of biological processes were believed to assess the pathological mechanisms involved in diseases.

The Efficacy of Pilates on Urinary Incontinence in Korean Women: A Metabolomics Approach

Pilates has been known as exercise intervention that improves the function of pelvic floor muscle (PFM) associated with impacting urinary incontinence (UI). This study investigated the effect of Pilates on UI in Korean women by determining the change in functional movement of PFM (FMP) and metabolic profiles. UI group with Pilates (UIP, n = 13) participated in 8-weeks Oov Pilates program, and 8 subjects were assigned to Control and UI group with no Pilates (UINP), respectively. Before and after 8 weeks, plasma samples were collected from all participants, and ultrasonography was used to measure the functional change of PFM for calculating FMP ratio. Plasma samples were analyzed by mass spectrometry to identify the change of metabolic features. After 8-weeks intervention, FMP ratio was remarkably decreased in UIP (48.1% ↓, p < 0.001), but not in Control and UINP (p > 0.05). In metabolic features, L-Glutamine (m/z: 147.07 [M + H]⁺), L-Cystathionine (m/z: 240.09 [M + NH₄]⁺), L-Arginine (m/z: 197.1 [M + Na]⁺), and L-1-Pyrroline-3-hydroxy-5-carboxylate (m/z: 147.07 [M + NH₄]⁺) were significantly elevated solely in UIP (p < 0.001). Our study elucidated that Pilates can ameliorate the FMP and enhance the specific metabolic characteristics, which was potentially associated with invigorated PFM contractility to effectively control the bladder base and continence.

Global Plasma Metabolomics to Identify Potential Biomarkers of Blood Pressure Progression

Objective:

The pathophysiology of hypertension remains incompletely understood. We investigated associations of circulating metabolites with longitudinal blood pressure (BP) changes in the Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors cohort and validated the findings in the Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men cohort.

Approach and Results:

Circulating metabolite levels were assessed with liquid- and gas-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry among persons without BP-lowering medication at baseline. We studied associations of baseline levels of metabolites with changes in BP levels and the clinical BP stage between baseline and a follow-up examination 5 years later. In the discovery cohort, we investigated 504 individuals that contributed with 757 observations of paired BP measurements. The mean baseline systolic and diastolic BPs were 144 (19.7)/76 (9.7) mm Hg, and change in systolic and diastolic BPs were 3.7 (15.8)/−0.5 (8.6) mm Hg over 5 years. The metabolites associated with diastolic BP change were ceramide, triacylglycerol, total glycerolipids, oleic acid, and cholesterylester. No associations with longitudinal changes in systolic BP or BP stage were observed. Metabolites with similar structures to the 5 top findings in the discovery cohort were investigated in the validation cohort. Diacylglycerol (36:2) and monoacylglycerol (18:0), 2 glycerolipids, were associated with diastolic BP change in the validation cohort.

Conclusions:

Circulating baseline levels of ceramide, triacylglycerol, total glycerolipids, and oleic acid were positively associated with longitudinal diastolic BP change, whereas cholesterylester levels were inversely associated with longitudinal diastolic BP change. Two glycerolipids were validated in an independent cohort. These metabolites may point towards pathophysiological pathways of hypertension.

Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Glucose Transport and Glucose Metabolism by Exercise Training

Aerobic exercise training and resistance exercise training are both well-known for their ability to improve human health; especially in individuals with type 2 diabetes. However, there are critical differences between these two main forms of exercise training and the adaptations that they induce in the body that may account for their beneficial effects. This article reviews the literature and highlights key gaps in our current understanding of the effects of aerobic and resistance exercise training on the regulation of systemic glucose homeostasis, skeletal muscle glucose transport and skeletal muscle glucose metabolism.

Regulation of DNA methylation and 2-OG/TET signaling by choline alleviated cardiac hypertrophy in spontaneously hypertensive rats

DNA methylation is a well-defined epigenetic modification that regulates gene transcription. However, the role of DNA methylation in the cardiac hypertrophy seen in hypertension is unclear. This study was performed to investigate genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY), and the cardioprotective effect of choline. Eight-week-old male SHRs received intraperitoneal injections of choline (8 mg/kg/day) for 8 weeks. SHRs showed aberrant methylation distribution on chromosomes and genome regions, with decreased methylation levels at CHG and CHH sites. A total of 91,559 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were detected between SHRs and WKY rats, of which 28,197 were demethylated and 63,362 were methylated. Choline treatment partly restored the DMRs in SHRs, which were related to 131 genes. Gene ontology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis of DMRs suggested that choline partly reversed the dysfunctions of biological processes, cellular components and molecular functions in SHRs. Moreover, the inhibition of 2-oxoglutarate accumulation by choline, thereby inhibiting excessive activation of ten-eleven translocation methylcytosine dioxygenase enzymes, may correlate with the beneficial effects of choline on methylation levels, cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac function of SHRs, as indicated by decreased heart rate and blood pressure, and increased ejection fraction and fractional shortening. This study provides the first genome-wide DNA methylation profile of the hypertrophic myocardium of SHRs and suggests a novel role for this epigenetic modification in hypertension. Choline treatment may represent a promising approach for modification of DNA methylation and optimization of the epigenetic profile for antihypertensive therapy.