Aerobic Exercise Increases Meteorin-Like Protein in Muscle and Adipose Tissue of Chronic High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice

Abstract

Upregulated meteorin-like (Metrnl) protein in peripheral tissues because of exercise-induced increases in intramuscular Metrnl may effectively alleviate obesity by improving metabolism in whole-body tissues. The objective was to analyse the effects of regular treadmill exercise on Metrnl levels in muscle and peripheral tissues of chronic high-fat diet- (HFD-) induced obese mice. Forty-eight-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were first divided equally into normal-diet (CO) and high-fat diet (HF) groups. Following 16 weeks of a HFD, each group was again split equally into control (CO, HF) and training groups (COT, HFT). The HFT group expressed significantly higher phospho-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), AMPK activity, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) in muscle tissue than the HF group (p < 0.05). Similar to muscle energy sensing network protein levels, the HFT group also expressed significantly higher muscle, plasma, and adipose tissue Metrnl (p < 0.05). Moreover, regular exercise increased acyl-CoA oxidase 1 (ACOX-1) and monoglyceride lipase (MGL) expression in adipose tissue (p < 0.05) and significantly decreased abdominal fat mass (p < 0.05). This study suggests that exercise-induced muscle Metrnl effectively reduces fat accumulation through the increase of Metrnl in adipose tissue, which may be a therapeutic target for chronic obesity.

Effects of electrical stimulation‐induced resistance exercise training on white and brown adipose tissues and plasma meteorin‐like concentration in rats

“…As a result, the chronic 4-week RT significantly increased plasma Mertnl concentrations. This is consistent with a previous study showing that chronic endurance training increased plasma Mternl concentrations in normal diet-fed mice (Bae, 2018). We estimate that the increase in Metrnl in the blood is due to the increase in Metrnl in skeletal muscles.…”

“…We estimate that the increase in Metrnl in the blood is due to the increase in Metrnl in skeletal muscles. This is supported by our data showing that muscle Metrnl mRNA expression showed a slight but significant increase after 4 weeks of RT and previous studies showing that 4-week endurance exercise training increased muscle Metrnl protein contents in mice (Bae, 2018). Furthermore, in a human study, acute and chronic high-intensity interval exercise increased muscle Metrnl mRNA expression levels (Eaton et al, 2018).…”

The myokine meteorin‐like (metrnl) improves glucose tolerance in both skeletal muscle cells and mice by targeting AMPKα2

“…and Bae et al . [49,50] strongly support our data by showing that metrnl alleviates inflammation and improves insulin resistance through AMPK or PPARδ‐dependent signaling in skeletal muscles. Our results differ from those previous results in important ways.…”

Circulating levels of Meteorin-like protein in polycystic ovary syndrome: A case-control study

“…Few studies have investigated Metrnl in the clinical setting [24,[26][27][28]. Much of the information is derived from animal studies, and none of them considered a possible relation between Metrnl and MetS within the pathogenesis of PCOS.…”