Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to compare the response to acute exercise of several myokines/hormones involved in metabolic function between two types of training sessions that are growing in popularity for their purported cardiometabolic benefits, high-intensity interval (HIIT) and resistance training (RT).Methods: Seventeen healthy, non-athletic men (23 ± 3 years) participated in this cross-over study. They randomly performed a HIIT [with short (HIIT1) or long (HIIT2) intervals] or a RT session. The concentration of fibroblast-growth factor (FGF) 21, follistatin, ghrelin, interleukin-15, irisin, myostatin, and peptide YY was measured at baseline and 0, 1, 3, 24, 48, and 72 h post-exercise. An individual approach was adopted to determine the rate of responsiveness to each specific cytokine and training mode.Results: A significant condition (session type) by time interaction (p = 0.004) effect was observed for FGF21, with RT eliciting a greater area under the curve (AUC) concentration than HIIT1 (p = 0.02). The AUC for follistatin was significantly greater after HIIT2 compared with RT (p = 0.02). Individual responsiveness to all session types ranged between 19 and 93% depending on the cytokine. However, most subjects (71–100%) responded positively for all cytokines (except for irisin, with only 53% of responders) after 1+ session type.Conclusion: Except for FGF21, our results show no overall differences in the myokine response to HIIT or RT. A considerable individual variability was observed, with some subjects responding to some but not other training session types. Notwithstanding, most responded to at least one training session. Thus, it is mostly the individual response of each subject rather than general recommendations on type of training session (i.e., RT vs. HIIT or HIIT subtypes) that must be taken into consideration for maximizing cardiometabolic benefits in the context of personalized exercise prescription.
Highlights
Regular physical exercise is an effective lifestyle intervention for the prevention and treatment of some of the most common noncommunicable diseases, notably cardiometabolic conditions and many types of cancer (Fiuza-Luces et al, 2013, 2018; Ruiz-Casado et al, 2017)
Besides their main function related to muscle plasticity, myostatin and follistatin play a role in metabolism [i.e., reduction of body fat, improvement of glucose homeostasis and browning of white adipose tissue (WAT)] (Huang et al, 2011; Braga et al, 2014)
HIIT1 induced a higher mean heart rate than HIIT2 (88 ± 4 vs. 83 ± 5% of HRmax, respectively; p < 0.001), as well as a higher mean energy aerobic expenditure (82 ± 6 vs. 64 ± 5% of VO2max, respectively; p < 0.001 or 826 ± 110 vs. 641 ± 72 kcal, respectively; p < 0.001)
Summary
Regular physical exercise is an effective lifestyle intervention for the prevention and treatment of some of the most common noncommunicable diseases, notably cardiometabolic conditions and many types of cancer (Fiuza-Luces et al, 2013, 2018; Ruiz-Casado et al, 2017). The first described secreted muscle factor to fulfil the criteria of a myokine (Fiuza-Luces et al, 2013), is a negative regulator of muscle growth (Huang et al, 2011), whereas follistatin is a myostatin-binding protein that promotes skeletal muscle development through the activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway (Winbanks et al, 2012) Besides their main function related to muscle plasticity, myostatin and follistatin play a role in metabolism [i.e., reduction of body fat, improvement of glucose homeostasis and browning of white adipose tissue (WAT)] (Huang et al, 2011; Braga et al, 2014). Some hormones such as ghrelin ( known as the “hunger hormone”) and the peptide YY (PYY) provide metabolic benefits and promote weight management mainly through their influence on appetite, they exert a role on glucose and fatty acid homeostasis (Karra et al, 2009; Pradhan et al, 2013; Pinkney, 2014)
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