Why should we study the recovery from exercise as a discrete phenomenon from exercise itself? We identify three distinct (but not mutually exclusive) rationales that drive the need to investigate the physiology of recovery from exercise. (1) Some individuals are at a heightened risk of clinical outcomes in the immediate post-exercise period; thus the potential negative outcomes of this “vulnerable state” must be weighed against the numerous benefits of exercise training, and may be mitigated to reduce risk. (2) Many of the signaling mechanisms responsible for the beneficial effects of exercise training remain amplified during the exercise recovery period, and may present a “window of opportunity” that can be exploited by interventions to enhance the beneficial adaptations to exercise training, especially in clinical populations. (3) On an individual level, exercise recovery responses may provide investigators with a “crystal ball” ability to predict future clinical outcomes even in apparently healthy individuals. In short, the physiology of recovery is a multi-faceted and complex process, likely involving systems and pathways that are distinct from the physiology of exercise itself. For these reasons, it merits ongoing study.

We tested the hypothesis that age-related endothelial dysfunction in rat soleus muscle feed arteries (SFA) is mediated in part by NAD(P)H oxidase-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS). SFA from young (4 mo) and old (24 mo) Fischer 344 rats were isolated and cannulated for examination of vasodilator responses to flow and acetylcholine (ACh) in the absence or presence of a superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) scavenger (Tempol; 100 μM) or an NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor (apocynin; 100 μM). In the absence of inhibitors, flow- and ACh-induced dilations were attenuated in SFA from old rats compared with young rats. Tempol and apocynin improved flow- and ACh-induced dilation in SFA from old rats. In SFA from young rats, Tempol and apocynin had no effect on flow-induced dilation, and apocynin attenuated ACh-induced dilation. To determine the role of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), dilator responses were assessed in the absence and presence of catalase (100 U/ml) or PEG-catalase (200 U/ml). Neither H(2)O(2) scavenger altered flow-induced dilation, whereas both H(2)O(2) scavengers blunted ACh-induced dilation in SFA from young rats. In old SFA, catalase improved flow-induced dilation whereas PEG-catalase improved ACh-induced dilation. Compared with young SFA, in response to exogenous H(2)O(2) and NADPH, old rats exhibited blunted dilation and constriction, respectively. Immunoblot analysis revealed that the NAD(P)H oxidase subunit gp91phox protein content was greater in old SFA compared with young. These results suggest that NAD(P)H oxidase-derived reactive oxygen species contribute to impaired endothelium-dependent dilation in old SFA.

Obesity increases linearly with age and is associated with impaired vascular endothelial function and increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) contribute to impaired vascular endothelial function in cardiovascular disease; however, their role in uncomplicated human obesity is unknown. Because plasma aldosterone levels are elevated in obesity and adipocytes may be a source of aldosterone, we hypothesized that MR modulate vascular endothelial function in older adults in an adiposity-dependent manner. To test this hypothesis, we administered MR blockade (Eplerenone; 100 mg/day) for 1 month in a balanced, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study to 22 older adults (10 men, 55–79 years) varying widely in adiposity (body mass index: 20–45 kg/m2) but who were free from overt cardiovascular disease. We evaluated vascular endothelial function (brachial artery flow-mediated dilation [FMD] via ultrasonography) and oxidative stress (plasma F2-isoprostanes and vascular endothelial cell protein expression of nitrotyrosine and NADPH oxidase p47phox) during placebo and MR blockade. In the whole group, oxidative stress (P>0.05) and FMD did not change with MR blockade (6.39±0.67 vs. 6.23±0.73 %, P=0.7, placebo vs. Eplerenone). However, individual improvements in FMD in response to Eplerenone were associated with higher total body fat (body mass index: r=0.45, P=0.02 and DXA-derived % body fat: r=0.50, P=0.009) and abdominal fat (total: r=0.61, P=0.005, visceral: r=0.67, P=0.002 and subcutaneous: r=0.48, P=0.03). In addition, greater improvements in FMD with Eplerenone were related with higher baseline fasting glucose (r=0.53, P=0.01). MR influence vascular endothelial function in an adiposity-dependent manner in healthy older adults.

In humans, acute aerobic exercise elicits a sustained postexercise vasodilation within previously active skeletal muscle. This response is dependent on activation of histamine H and H receptors, but the source of intramuscular histamine remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that interstitial histamine in skeletal muscle would be increased with exercise and would be dependent on de novo formation via the inducible enzyme histidine decarboxylase and/or mast cell degranulation. Subjects performed 1 h of unilateral dynamic knee-extension exercise or sham (seated rest). We measured the interstitial histamine concentration and local blood flow (ethanol washout) via skeletal muscle microdialysis of the vastus lateralis. In some probes, we infused either α-fluoromethylhistidine hydrochloride (α-FMH), a potent inhibitor of histidine decarboxylase, or histamine H/H-receptor blockers. We also measured interstitial tryptase concentrations, a biomarker of mast cell degranulation. Compared with preexercise, histamine was increased after exercise by a change (Δ) of 4.2 ± 1.8 ng/ml ( < 0.05), but not when α-FMH was administered (Δ-0.3 ± 1.3 ng/ml, = 0.9). Likewise, local blood flow after exercise was reduced to preexercise levels by both α-FMH and H/H blockade. In addition, tryptase was elevated during exercise by Δ6.8 ± 1.1 ng/ml ( < 0.05). Taken together, these data suggest that interstitial histamine in skeletal muscle increases with exercise and results from both de novo formation and mast cell degranulation. This suggests that exercise produces an anaphylactoid signal, which affects recovery, and may influence skeletal muscle blood flow during exercise. Blood flow to previously active skeletal muscle remains elevated following an acute bout of aerobic exercise and is dependent on activation of histamine H and H receptors. The intramuscular source of histamine that drives this response to exercise has not been identified. Using intramuscular microdialysis in exercising humans, we show both mast cell degranulation and formation of histamine by histidine decarboxylase contributes to the histamine-mediated vasodilation that occurs following a bout of aerobic exercise.

Key pointsr Histamine is a primordial signalling molecule, capable of activating cells in an autocrine or paracrine fashion via specific cell surface receptors, in a variety of pathways that probably predate its more recent role in innate and adaptive immunity.r Although histamine is normally associated with pathological conditions or allergic and anaphylactic reactions, it may contribute beneficially to the normal changes that occur within skeletal muscle during the recovery from exercise.r We show that the human response to exercise includes an altered expression of thousands of protein-coding genes, and much of this response appears to be driven by histamine.r Histamine may be an important molecular transducer contributing to many of the adaptations that accompany chronic exercise training.Abstract Histamine is a primordial signalling molecule, capable of activating cells in an autocrine or paracrine fashion via specific cell surface receptors. In humans, aerobic exercise is followed by a post-exercise activation of histamine H 1 and H 2 receptors localized to the previously exercised muscle. This could trigger a broad range of cellular adaptations in response to exercise. Thus, we exploited RNA sequencing to explore the effects of H 1 and H 2 receptor blockade on the exercise transcriptome in human skeletal muscle tissue harvested from the vastus lateralis. We found that exercise exerts a profound influence on the human transcriptome, causing the differential expression of more than 3000 protein-coding genes. The influence of histamine blockade post-exercise was notable for 795 genes that were differentially expressed between the control and blockade condition, which represents >25% of the number responding to exercise. The broad histamine footprint on the human exercise transcriptome crosses many cellular functions, including inflammation, vascular function, metabolism, and cellular maintenance.