Glucose ingestion during endurance training in men attenuates expression of myokine receptor

What Should I Eat before Exercise? Pre-Exercise Nutrition and the Response to Endurance Exercise: Current Prospective and Future Directions

The primary variables influencing the adaptive response to a bout of endurance training are exercise duration and exercise intensity. However, altering the availability of nutrients before and during exercise can also impact the training response by modulating the exercise stimulus and/or the physiological and molecular responses to the exercise-induced perturbations. The purpose of this review is to highlight the current knowledge of the influence of pre-exercise nutrition ingestion on the metabolic, physiological, and performance responses to endurance training and suggest directions for future research. Acutely, carbohydrate ingestion reduces fat oxidation, but there is little evidence showing enhanced fat burning capacity following long-term fasted-state training. Performance is improved following pre-exercise carbohydrate ingestion for longer but not shorter duration exercise, while training-induced performance improvements following nutrition strategies that modulate carbohydrate availability vary based on the type of nutrition protocol used. Contrasting findings related to the influence of acute carbohydrate ingestion on mitochondrial signaling may be related to the amount of carbohydrate consumed and the intensity of exercise. This review can help to guide athletes, coaches, and nutritionists in personalizing pre-exercise nutrition strategies, and for designing research studies to further elucidate the role of nutrition in endurance training adaptations.

Metabolic adaptations to endurance training and nutrition strategies influencing performance

Endurance performance is the result of optimal training targeting cardiovascular, metabolic, and peripheral muscular adaptations and is coupled to effective nutrition strategies via the use of macronutrient manipulations surrounding training and potential supplementation with ergogenic aids. It is important to note that training and nutrition may differ according to the individual needs of the athlete and can markedly impact the physiological response to training. Herein, we discuss various aspects of endurance training adaptations, nutritional strategies and their contributions to towards performance.

Dietary Manipulations Concurrent to Endurance Training

The role of an athlete's dietary intake (both timing and food type) goes beyond simply providing fuel to support the body's vital processes. Nutritional choices also have an impact on the metabolic adaptations to training. Over the past 20 years, research has suggested that strategically reducing carbohydrate (CHO) availability during an athlete's training can modify the metabolic responses in lieu of simply maintaining a high CHO diet. Several methods have been explored to manipulate CHO availability and include: Low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diets, performing two-a-day training without glycogen restoration between sessions, and a "sleep-low" approach entailing a glycogen-depleting session in the evening without consuming CHO until after a morning training session performed in an overnight fasted state. Each of these methods can confer beneficial metabolic adaptations for the endurance athlete including increases in mitochondrial enzyme activity, mitochondrial content, and rates of fat oxidation, yet data showing a direct performance benefit is still unclear.

Myokines related to leukocyte recruitment are down-regulated in osteosarcoma

Myokines are cytokines that are secreted by muscle cells during exercises, muscle development and pathology. Studies have shown that expression of some individual myokines was altered in tumors. However, comprehensive analyses of myokines' expression in osteosarcoma (OS), the most common malignant tumor in musculoskeletal system, have not been performed. In this study, we analyzed the expression of 35 myokines in osteosarcoma, peritumoral skeletal muscle, and cancellous bone by qRT-PCR. Heatmap analysis based on the expression pattern of these myokines revealed that OS is more likely derived from cancellous bone than peritumoral skeletal muscle. Thus, we compared the expression of myokines between OS and cancellous bone to reveal a potential role of myokines in OS development. Our results showed that expression of 19 myokines in OS was significantly lower than that in cancellous bone. KEGG signaling pathway analysis showed that these 19 myokines are involved in several important signaling pathways, one of which was associated with leukocyte recruitment in TNF-α signaling. We verified that expression of these leukocyte recruitment-related myokines were down-regulated in OS cell line MNNG compared to those in human BMSC. Downregulation of the myokines related to leukocyte recruitment suggests that escaping from host immune system may help the occurrence of osteosarcoma.

Periodized Nutrition for Athletes

It is becoming increasingly clear that adaptations, initiated by exercise, can be amplified or reduced by nutrition. Various methods have been discussed to optimize training adaptations and some of these methods have been subject to extensive study. To date, most methods have focused on skeletal muscle, but it is important to note that training effects also include adaptations in other tissues (e.g., brain, vasculature), improvements in the absorptive capacity of the intestine, increases in tolerance to dehydration, and other effects that have received less attention in the literature. The purpose of this review is to define the concept of periodized nutrition (also referred to as nutritional training) and summarize the wide variety of methods available to athletes. The reader is referred to several other recent review articles that have discussed aspects of periodized nutrition in much more detail with primarily a focus on adaptations in the muscle. The purpose of this review is not to discuss the literature in great detail but to clearly define the concept and to give a complete overview of the methods available, with an emphasis on adaptations that are not in the muscle. Whilst there is good evidence for some methods, other proposed methods are mere theories that remain to be tested. 'Periodized nutrition' refers to the strategic combined use of exercise training and nutrition, or nutrition only, with the overall aim to obtain adaptations that support exercise performance. The term nutritional training is sometimes used to describe the same methods and these terms can be used interchangeably. In this review, an overview is given of some of the most common methods of periodized nutrition including 'training low' and 'training high', and training with low- and high-carbohydrate availability, respectively. 'Training low' in particular has received considerable attention and several variations of 'train low' have been proposed. 'Training-low' studies have generally shown beneficial effects in terms of signaling and transcription, but to date, few studies have been able to show any effects on performance. In addition to 'train low' and 'train high', methods have been developed to 'train the gut', train hypohydrated (to reduce the negative effects of dehydration), and train with various supplements that may increase the training adaptations longer term. Which of these methods should be used depends on the specific goals of the individual and there is no method (or diet) that will address all needs of an individual in all situations. Therefore, appropriate practical application lies in the optimal combination of different nutritional training methods. Some of these methods have already found their way into training practices of athletes, even though evidence for their efficacy is sometimes scarce at best. Many pragmatic questions remain unanswered and another goal of this review is to identify some of the remaining questions that may have great practical relevance and should be the focus of future research.

Effect of Exercise Training on Signaling of Interleukin-6 in Skeletal Muscles of Type 2 Diabetic Rats

OBJECTIVES

Diabetes and exercise training have been shown to involve interleukin 6 (IL-6) signaling in muscle. However, the relationship between the actions of these two stimuli on muscle IL-6 and their downstream components is still unknown. Thus, the effect of endurance training on the key components of muscle IL-6 signaling transduction was investigated in a rat model of type 2 diabetes.

METHODS

Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (STZ) in male Wistar rats fed a high-fat diet, with normal rats acting as controls. The animals were left to conduct their normal activities or assigned to endurance training in a treadmill. At the end of 8 weeks, blood biochemical profiles, exercise performance, muscle oxidative capacity, glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) protein distribution, and expressions of IL-6 and its downstream proteins were determined.

RESULTS

Blood biochemical profiles of the diabetic rats were altered compared to normal rats, whereas endurance training improved blood chemistry and exercise performance. It also increased muscle oxidative capacity, and promoted GLUT4 subcellular localization to the membrane in muscles. Furthermore, protein expression of IL-6 receptor (IL-6Rα) was increased in both normal and diabetic rats after endurance training, but no significant changes in IL-6, phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (p-STAT3), or suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOC3) were observed in muscles of normal and diabetic rats.

CONCLUSIONS

IL-6 signaling pathway mediating muscle response to endurance training was conserved in type 2 diabetes. There was no link between training-induced IL-6 downstream targets in skeletal muscles and IL-6-induced type 2 diabetes.

Increased skeletal muscle capillarization enhances insulin sensitivity

Increased skeletal muscle capillarization is associated with improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. However, a possible causal relationship has not previously been identified. Therefore, we investigated whether increased skeletal muscle capillarization increases insulin sensitivity. Skeletal muscle-specific angiogenesis was induced by adding the α1-adrenergic receptor antagonist prazosin to the drinking water of Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 33), whereas 34 rats served as controls. Insulin sensitivity was measured ≥40 h after termination of the 3-wk prazosin treatment, which ensured that prazosin was cleared from the blood stream. Whole body insulin sensitivity was measured in conscious, unrestrained rats by hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp. Tissue-specific insulin sensitivity was assessed by administration of 2-deoxy-[(3)H]glucose during the plateau phase of the clamp. Whole body insulin sensitivity increased by ∼24%, and insulin-stimulated skeletal muscle 2-deoxy-[(3)H]glucose disposal increased by ∼30% concomitant with an ∼20% increase in skeletal muscle capillarization. Adipose tissue insulin sensitivity was not affected by the treatment. Insulin-stimulated muscle glucose uptake was enhanced independent of improvements in skeletal muscle insulin signaling to glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis, suggesting that the improvement in insulin-stimulated muscle glucose uptake could be due to improved diffusion conditions for glucose in the muscle. The prazosin treatment did not affect the rats on any other parameters measured. We conclude that an increase in skeletal muscle capillarization is associated with increased insulin sensitivity. These data point toward the importance of increasing skeletal muscle capillarization for prevention or treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Influence of oxidative stress, diaphragm fatigue, and inspiratory muscle training on the plasma cytokine response to maximum sustainable voluntary ventilation

The influence of oxidative stress, diaphragm fatigue, and inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on the cytokine response to maximum sustainable voluntary ventilation (MSVV) is unknown. Twelve healthy males were divided equally into an IMT or placebo (PLA) group, and before and after a 6-wk intervention they undertook, on separate days, 1 h of ( 1) passive rest and ( 2) MSVV, whereby participants undertook volitional hyperpnea at rest that mimicked the breathing and respiratory muscle recruitment patterns commensurate with heavy cycling exercise. Plasma cytokines remained unchanged during passive rest. There was a main effect of time ( P < 0.01) for plasma interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations and a strong trend ( P = 0.067) for plasma interleukin-1 receptor antagonist concentration during MSVV. Plasma IL-6 concentration was reduced after IMT by 27 ± 18% (main effect of intervention, P = 0.029), whereas there was no change after PLA ( P = 0.753). There was no increase in a systemic marker of oxidative stress [DNA damage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)], and diaphragm fatigue was not related to the increases in plasma IL-1β and IL-6 concentrations. A dose-response relationship was observed between respiratory muscle work and minute ventilation and increases in plasma IL-6 concentration. In conclusion, increases in plasma IL-1β and IL-6 concentrations during MSVV were not due to diaphragm fatigue or DNA damage in PBMC. Increases in plasma IL-6 concentration during MSVV are attenuated following IMT, and the plasma IL-6 response is dependent upon the level of respiratory muscle work and minute ventilation.

The effects of inspiratory muscle training on plasma interleukin-6 concentration during cycling exercise and a volitional mimic of the exercise hyperpnea

It is unknown whether the respiratory muscles contribute to exercise-induced increases in plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentration, if this is related to diaphragm fatigue, and whether inspiratory muscle training (IMT) attenuates the plasma IL-6 response to whole body exercise and/or a volitional mimic of the exercise hyperpnea. Twelve healthy males were divided equally into an IMT or placebo (PLA) group, and before and after a 6-wk intervention they undertook, on separate days, 1 h of 1) passive rest, 2) cycling exercise at estimated maximal lactate steady state power (EX), and 3) volitional hyperpnea at rest, which mimicked the breathing and respiratory muscle recruitment patterns achieved during EX (HYPEX). Plasma IL-6 concentration remained unchanged during passive rest. The plasma IL-6 response to EX was reduced following IMT (main effect of intervention, P = 0.039) but not PLA ( P = 0.272). Plasma IL-6 concentration increased during HYPEX (main effect of time, P < 0.01) and was unchanged postintervention. There was no evidence of diaphragm fatigue (measured by phrenic nerve stimulation) following each trial. In conclusion, plasma IL-6 concentration is increased during EX and HYPEX and this occurred in the absence of diaphragm fatigue. Furthermore, IMT reduced the plasma IL-6 response to EX but not HYPEX. These findings suggest that the respiratory muscles contribute to exercise-induced increases in plasma IL-6 concentration in the absence of diaphragm fatigue and that IMT can reduce the magnitude of the response to exercise but not a volitional mimic of the exercise hyperpnea.

Role of vitamin C and E supplementation on IL-6 in response to training

Vitamin C and E supplementation has been shown to attenuate the acute exercise-induced increase in plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentration. Here, we studied the effect of antioxidant vitamins on the regulation of IL-6 expression in muscle and the circulation in response to acute exercise before and after high-intensity endurance exercise training. Twenty-one young healthy men were allocated into either a vitamin (VT; vitamin C and E, n = 11) or a placebo (PL, n = 10) group. A 1-h acute bicycling exercise trial at 65% of maximal power output was performed before and after 12 wk of progressive endurance exercise training. In response to training, the acute exercise-induced IL-6 response was attenuated in PL (P < 0.02), but not in VT (P = 0.82). However, no clear difference between groups was observed (group × training: P = 0.13). Endurance exercise training also attenuated the acute exercise-induced increase in muscle-IL-6 mRNA in both groups. Oxidative stress, assessed by plasma protein carbonyls concentration, was overall higher in the VT compared with the PL group (group effect: P < 0.005). This was accompanied by a general increase in skeletal muscle mRNA expression of antioxidative enzymes, including catalase, copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase 1 mRNA expression in the VT group. However, skeletal muscle protein content of catalase, copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, or glutathione peroxidase 1 was not affected by training or supplementation. In conclusion, our results indicate that, although vitamin C and E supplementation may attenuate exercise-induced increases in plasma IL-6 there is no clear additive effect when combined with endurance training.

Determination of inflammatory and prominent proteomic changes in plasma and adipose tissue after high-intensity intermittent training in overweight and obese males

This study aimed to determine whether 2 wk of high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT) altered inflammatory status in plasma and adipose tissue in overweight and obese males. Twelve participants [mean (SD): age 23.7 (5.2) yr, body mass 91.0 (8.0) kg, body mass index 29.1 (3.1) kg/m²] undertook six HIIT sessions over 2 wk. Resting blood and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue samples were collected and insulin sensitivity determined, pre- and posttraining. Inflammatory proteins were quantified in plasma and adipose tissue. There was a significant decrease in soluble interleukin-6 receptor (sIL-6R; P = 0.050), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1, P = 0.047), and adiponectin (P = 0.041) in plasma posttraining. Plasma IL-6, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-10, and insulin sensitivity did not change. In adipose tissue, IL-6 significantly decreased (P = 0.036) and IL-6R increased (P = 0.037), while adiponectin tended to decrease (P = 0.056), with no change in ICAM-1 posttraining. TNF-α, MCP-1, and IL-10 were not detectable in adipose tissue. Adipose tissue homogenates were then resolved using one-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and major changes in the adipose tissue proteome, as a consequence of HIIT, were evaluated. This proteomic approach identified significant reductions in annexin A2 (P = 0.046) and fatty acid synthase (P = 0.016) as a response to HIIT. The present investigation suggests 2 wk of HIIT is sufficient to induce beneficial alterations in the resting inflammatory profile and adipose tissue proteome of an overweight and obese male cohort.