Metabolite Concentration Changes in Humans After a Bout of Exercise: a Systematic Review of Exercise Metabolomics Studies

Abstract

Background: Exercise changes the concentrations of many metabolites, which are small molecules (< 1.5 kDa) metabolized by the reactions of human metabolism. In recent years, especially mass spectrometry-based metabolomics methods have allowed researchers to measure up to hundreds of metabolites in a single sample in a non-biased fashion. To summarize human exercise metabolomics studies to date, we conducted a systematic review that reports the results of experiments that found metabolite concentrations changes after a bout of human endurance or resistance exercise.Methods: We carried out a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines and searched for human metabolomics studies that report metabolite concentrations before and within 24 h after endurance or resistance exercise in blood, urine, or sweat. We then displayed metabolites that significantly changed their concentration in at least two experiments. Results: Twenty-seven studies and 57 experiments matched our search criteria and were analyzed. Within these studies, 196 metabolites changed their concentration significantly within 24 h after exercise in at least two experiments. Human biofluids contain mainly unphosphorylated metabolites as the phosphorylation of metabolites such as ATP, glycolytic intermediates, or nucleotides traps these metabolites within cells. Lactate, pyruvate, TCA cycle intermediates, fatty acids, acylcarnitines, and ketone bodies all typically increase after exercise, whereas bile acids decrease. In contrast, the concentrations of proteinogenic and non-proteinogenic amino acids change in different directions.Conclusion: Across different exercise modes and in different subjects, exercise often consistently changes the average concentrations of metabolites that belong to energy metabolism and other branches of metabolism. This dataset is a useful resource for those that wish to study human exercise metabolism.

Cytotoxic T-cells mediate exercise-induced reductions in tumor growth

“…Interestingly, the TCA metabolites citric acid, malic acid and alpha ketoglutaric acid (aKG) were all higher in plasma after exertion ( Figure 2—figure supplement 1C ), suggesting release of these metabolites from muscle into plasma ( Figure 2—figure supplement 1D ). Contribution of muscle citrate to plasma has previously been shown; for example, by femoral arterio-venous sampling during exercise in human subjects ( Nielsen and Thomsen, 1979 ; Schranner et al, 2020 ).…”

How strong is the evidence that gut microbiota composition can be influenced by lifestyle interventions in a cardio-protective way?

“…Lifestyle is known to be able to influence bile acid levels, for example directly after exercise, bile acid concentrations are reduced as compared to before exercise. Conversely, adherence to a Mediterranean diet has elevated the amounts of faecal bile acids [110,111]. In obese persons, a higher intake of fibre and protein also increased the levels of bile acids in serum [112].…”

Potential Roles of Exercise-Induced Plasma Metabolites Linking Exercise to Health Benefits

“… Contrepois et al (2020) recently performed longitudinal profiling of blood metabolites before and after acute exercise in human and found 728 metabolites affected by exercise. Schranner et al (2020) identified 196 metabolites that are significantly changed by endurance or resistance exercise in human. These data might be a useful resource to investigate mechanisms of exercise-induced health benefits.…”

“…These factors contribute to the beneficial effects of exercise, including reduction of adipose mass and inflammation, maintenance of muscle mass, improvement of cardiovascular fitness, and promotion of brain plasticity, as discussed in many previous studies ( Hawley et al, 2014 ). Various types of exercise change whole-body metabolism in both clinical and animal models ( Huffman et al, 2014 ; Starnes et al, 2017 ; Sato et al, 2019 ; Schranner et al, 2020 ). Metabolism plays a crucial role in human health and disease, and is modulated by intrinsic and extrinsic factors.…”