Ghrelin Response to Acute Aerobic Exercise in Boys at Different Stages of Puberty

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in serum ghrelin and leptin concentrations during acute aerobic cycle ergometer test in 60 boys at different pubertal stages. Boys were divided according to their pubertal status as group I (Tanner stage 1, n=20), group II (Tanner stages 2 and 3, n=20) and group 3 (Tanner stages 4 and 5, n=20). Maximal oxygen consumption and individual ventilatory threshold of the subjects were measured directly using stepwise increasing loads on cycle ergometer. Second exercise test consisted of a 30 minute constant load exercise on the same ergometer at the level of approximately 95% of the individual ventilatory threshold. Venous blood samples were obtained before, immediately after and after 30 minutes of recovery for the measurement of serum ghrelin, leptin, testosterone and insulin. At baseline, prepubertal children had significantly higher values for serum ghrelin compared to the groups II and III. Acute exercise altered significantly only insulin concentration. In all the groups, the maximal oxygen consumption/kg correlated positively with basal levels of testosterone (r=0.60, p<0.001) and insulin (r=0.34), and negatively to ghrelin (r=-0.35) and leptin (r=-0.32) (p<0.05). We conclude that moderate acute aerobic exercise does not change serum ghrelin or leptin level in boys at different pubertal stages.

Influence of resistance and aerobic exercise on hunger, circulating levels of acylated ghrelin, and peptide YY in healthy males

“…The majority of studies have focused on aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise (31), with only three studies examining the effects of resistance (muscle strengthening) exercise, and these have reported contradictory effects (21,33,47). Resistance exercise is a key component of exercise recommendations for weight control (2) and public health (23, 42); thus, it is important to clarify the effects of resistance exercise on hunger and gut hormones.The effect of acute exercise bouts on total plasma ghrelin concentrations is controversial, with studies reporting no changes either during or postexercise (10,15,26,27,32,39,43,45,47), as well as increases (14,17,25,44) and decreases (21,33,48,50). Acylation of ghrelin is thought to be essential for appetite regulation because only the acylated form of the hormone can cross the blood-brain barrier (41).…”

“…The effect of acute exercise bouts on total plasma ghrelin concentrations is controversial, with studies reporting no changes either during or postexercise (10,15,26,27,32,39,43,45,47), as well as increases (14,17,25,44) and decreases (21,33,48,50). Acylation of ghrelin is thought to be essential for appetite regulation because only the acylated form of the hormone can cross the blood-brain barrier (41).…”

The effects of endurance training on the relationships body composition plasma ghrelin and leptin levels

“…Özçelik et al (25) investigated the acute and chronic effects of aerobic training program together with hypo-caloric (1200-1400 kcal) diet program on PBF and blood leptin levels of obese women patients and observed that exercise and diet programs did not have an acute impact on leptin levels but serum leptin levels decreased with decreasing PBF in long-duration exercise programs. These findings were supported by later studies and it was pointed out that acute exercises did not change blood leptin levels (23,28,18). Perusse et al (27) investigated the relationships between chronic exercises and leptin levels and reported that cyclic exercises applied for 20 weeks did not significantly change blood leptin levels of sedentary women.…”

Interpretation of peak oxygen consumption in 10–12-year-old soccer players: effect of biological maturation and body size

“…Pubertal development of the participants was assessed by self-report using an illustrated questionnaire of pubertal stages according to the criteria of Tanner [20]. Pubertal development assessment according to the method of Tanner, which uses self-assessment of genitalia and pubic hair stage in boys, has been validated previously [13] and used in our previous studies with boys [9,17]. Th e boys were given photographs, fi gures and descriptions, and were asked to choose the one fi gure that most accurately refl ected their appearance.…”