What do we know about homocysteine and exercise? A review from the literature

Abstract

High total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations contribute to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative disorders. Several investigations have focused on the effect of exercise on tHcy concentrations, but results remain controversial. The differences among the methodologies in the investigations make difficult the interpretation of results. This review differentiates the effects of exercise on tHcy and establishes the relation with the implicated biomarkers on tHcy metabolism related to exercise. The electronic database MEDLINE (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) was used for searching studies published between years 2002 and 2015. 'Homocysteine', 'Training ', 'Exercise', 'Physical Activity' as well as combinations out of these terms were entered in the database. Articles were grouped in: 1) Acute effect of exercise on tHcy, 2) chronic exercise and tHcy, 3) relationship of physical activity (PA) level and cardiorespiratory fitness with tHcy, and 4) biomarkers related to tHcy and exercise. From a total of 30 articles, most of the studies analyzing the acute effect of exercise showed an increase on tHcy concentrations. Studies analyzing the chronic effect on tHcy concentrations showed contradictory results and no consensus exists probably due to the differences in the methodology, exercise interventions and participants characteristics. Low cardiorespiratory fitness seems to be associated with high tHcy; in contrast, the relation of PA levels and tHcy needs further research. Regarding biomarkers related to tHcy and exercise, some studies showed an increase of folate, vitamin B 12 , and creatine after acute exercise that could to be due to requirement of protein turnover and an increased metabolic demand of vitamin-B.

Role of Genetic Background in Cardiovascular Risk Markers Changes in Water Polo Players

“…Several studies showed a higher incidence of HHcy in elite athletes compared with sedentary subjects, likely due to an increased consumption of SAM required for creatine synthesis during strenuous exercise, and creatine phosphate, as well as increased protein turnover [3,10,26]. Hcy increases in elite athletes may represent a relevant health issue, given the reported key role for HHcy as a contributor to early and advanced stages of CVD [6,15].…”

“…It has been demonstrated that strenuous physical activity is associated with the development of hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) [3,19,26], a condition, characterized by the increase of homocysteine (Hcy) plasma levels above normal reference values, that is a well-recognized risk factor for CVD [6,15]. Indeed, Hcy contributes to the development of CVD by several different mechanisms, such…”

Functional and/or structural brain changes in response to resistance exercises and resistance training lead to cognitive improvements – a systematic review

“…A possible neurobiological mechanism that elucidates, at least partly, the effects of resistance training on white matter and cognition could be derived from the known effects of resistance training on the amino acid homocysteine. First, it is important to remember that a higher total homocysteine level is linked to (i) a higher extent of white matter lesions [334], (ii) a higher (faster) brain atrophy rate [335][336][337], (iii) an increased risk of neurological diseases [338][339][340][341][342][343][344], and (iv) poorer global cognitive performance and executive functioning [345][346][347][348][349][350]. Second, it is known that resistance training decreases the level of plasma [351] and serum homocysteine [187,352].…”

Muscular contraction frequency does not affect plasma homocysteine concentration in response to energy expenditure- and intensity-matched acute exercise in sedentary males

“…However, the impact of exercise on tHcy remains unclear. A recent review (Maroto-Sánchez et al 2016) identifies that acute exercise induces increases in tHcy. However, no consensus exists regarding chronic exercise due to a large variety of exercise interventions, with different intensities, duration and mode of exercise.…”