Exercise is a potent stimulus for enhancing circulating DNase activity

Abstract

A single bout of high intensity exercise is a potent stimulus for enhancing circulating DNase activity in healthy people. Acute exercise may therefore be considered as a non-pharmacological stimulus to trigger DNase activity. This finding may be relevant for pathological conditions associated with increased cfDNA concentrations like cystic fibrosis, where pharmacological recombinant human DNase (rhDNase) treatment has been successfully used to improve patients' health and physical function.

Correlation between cell free DNA levels and medical evaluation of disease progression in systemic lupus erythematosus patients

“…It could be shown that the impaired ability to degrade neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), consisting of chromatin and antimicrobial peptides, is more present in active SLE [3,41] which is in contrast to our current results. In other conditions where cfDNA levels were increased, as observed after physical exercise, DNase1 activity was also elevated [32,42]. A study by Skiljevic et al found that a relapse in SLE patients is characterised by an increase of DNase1 activity but without reaching the levels of healthy individuals [40].…”

Repeated bouts of exhaustive exercise increase circulating cell free nuclear and mitochondrial DNA without development of tolerance in healthy men

“…liver and renal clearance) [39,40] could not be the main mechanism responsible for the decrease in cf mt-DNA concentration during the resting period between bouts. Apart from elevation of circulating cf n-DNA, exercise caused the rise in plasma DNAse activity [13]. Majority of cf n-DNA exists in complexes with histones while cf mt- DNA does not [41, 42].…”

“…Increased levels of circulating cf n-DNA were observed under variety of pathological conditions including cancer, autoimmune diseases, stroke, traumatic brain, and other organs injury [6–10]. In contrast to the afore-mentioned pathological conditions, exercise-induced increase in cf n-DNA is transient [11–13], probably due to the parallel elevation of serum DNAse 1 activity leading to its normalization within 0.5 to 2 hours of recovery [13]. Moreover, exercise-induced increase in cf n-DNA is not specific to sport disciplines, however, seems to be strictly related to the load of physical exertion [7–14].…”

Extracellular DNA: A Bridge to Cancer

“…As such, there is a critical need to explore the potential to develop clinical strategies to hit the exDNA target that is present on cancer cells but not healthy cells, to stop disease outside the cell, using tools that will not inflict the level of injury on patients that most current cancer treatments cause. Multidisciplinary research will be needed to define activities, diet, diurnal rhythms, age, gender, medications, and other factors that may act as inducers and suppressors to facilitate DNase production and/or access of the enzyme to key components of the exDNA matrix (57,58). In the meantime, studies to establish standardized protocols to define a healthy range for serum and/or plasma DNase levels in humans and to explore the impact on cancer and other diseases when levels are restored to that range are long overdue.…”