Circulating microRNAs in Response to Exercise Training in Healthy Adults

Abstract

Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) have great potential as cardiac biomarkers and they are also being explored for their roles in intercellular communication and gene expression regulation. The analysis of circulating miRNAs in response to exercise would provide a deeper understanding of the molecular response to physical activity and valuable information for clinical practice. Here, eight male college students were recruited to participate in cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and 1 h acute exercise training (AET). Blood samples were collected and serum miRNAs involved in angiogenesis, inflammation and enriched in muscle and/or cardiac tissues were analyzed before and after cardiopulmonary exercise and acute exercise. The miRNAs we detected were miR-1, miR-20a, miR-21, miR-126, miR-133a, miR-133b, miR-146, miR155, miR-208a, miR-208b, miR-210, miR-221, miR-222, miR-328, miR-378, miR-499, and miR-940. We found that serum miR-20a was decreased significantly after CPET and serum miR-21 was increased after AET. In addition, no robust correlation was identified between the changes of these miRNAs and makers of cardiac function and exercise capacity, which indicates a distinct adaptation of these miRNAs to exercise. Future studies are highly needed to define the potential use of these circulating miRNAs as useful biomarkers of exercise training, and disclose the biological function of circulating miRNAs as physiological mediators of exercise-induced cardiovascular adaptation.

Mindfulness Intervention Improves Cognitive Function in Older Adults by Enhancing the Level of miRNA-29c in Neuron-Derived Exosomes

“…Among non-pharmacological interventions, exercise is a well-known method to reduce the risk of AD 14 . Exercise increases the level of miR-21 in serum 60 and enhances epigenetic changes including DNA methylation in the CNS 61 . Although MBSR involves slight body movement, the average energy expenditure during yoga and meditation are lower than during walking 62 .…”

Non-Coding RNAs as Regulators of Myogenesis and Postexercise Muscle Regeneration

“…Long-term endurance training (20 weeks) miR-142-3p, miR-221-3p, miR-126-3p, miR-146a-5p, and miR-27b-3p miR-486-5p, let-7b-5p, miR-29c-3p, let-7e-5p, miR-93-5p, miR-7-5p, miR-25-3p, miR-92a-3p, and miR-29b-3p [122] Cardiopulmonary exercise (3 min) and acute endurance training (60 min) miR-21 miR-20a [123] In the case of endurance exercise, miRNA level in muscle depends on both the duration (short-term vs. long-term) and intensity (high vs. moderate) of training. Transcription level of miR-1, miR-133a, miR-133b, and miR-181a was increased after short-term (60 min), highintensity cycle ergometer activity in untrained males (Table 3) [115,116].…”

Epigenetic Regulation of Inflammatory Responses in the Context of Physical Activity

“…In exercise, the expression of various members of this family was reported to increase after a marathon or systematic training with walking/running in middle-aged men and women [ 118 , 129 ] or decrease in acute and systematic cycling training in middle-aged participants [ 123 , 128 ]. miR-21 may have both pro- and anti-inflammatory properties, and its expression is reported to be rising in participants of marathons and some studies with acute cycling and sustained rowing exercise and high-intensity intervals or endurance training [ 117 , 124 , 125 , 127 , 130 , 133 ]. On the other hand, there was a study on acute cycling by athletes (basketball players) where the miR-21 expression was decreased [ 126 ].…”