Knowing in detail the molecular response to physical exercise is already essential when defining, for example, whether there is a maximum dose of healthy exercise. This is becoming increasingly important in the face of the unstoppable increase in fan participation in demanding sporting events such as marathons and other popular races. Biomedicine today has a new ally in this task. They are called microRNAs, small RNA molecules that help regulate the expression of a multitude of genes, for example, those that are expressed when we exercise. A work carried out by researchers from the University of Oviedo, which studies precisely the relationship between these biomarkers and sports practice,
Eduardo Iglesias Gutiérrez, professor in the Department of Functional Biology and coordinator of the study, explains that when we exercise, not only do the muscles respond to this activity, but also a complex communication network between different tissues is set in motion. In this situation, some microRNAs, especially those that are released into the bloodstream, play a very important role, since they coordinate the adaptations to exercise, recovery and even the repair of any damage that may occur.
It has already been seen that some of these circulating microRNAs are very useful in the diagnosis and monitoring of some heart diseases for which other blood biomarkers have been used for their diagnosis. Interestingly, the classic markers rise above normal values after long-term exercise, such as a marathon.
The objective of the award-winning study was to analyze in parallel the behavior of the different classical biomarkers and of a group of circulating microRNAs in response to different doses of acute resistance exercise. More specifically, the specialists evaluated the expression of these markers in middle-aged amateur runners who had covered a ten-kilometer race, a half-marathon and a marathon.
Eduardo Iglesias Gutiérrez points out that the results show that predominantly aerobic exercise induces an increase in circulating levels of classic cardiac biomarkers followed by a rapid recovery period in no more than 24 hours and adds that this increase is proportional to the dose of exercise carried out. The researchers also observed that this increase appeared to have little or no clinical relevance, especially considering the rapid return to baseline levels and the absence of signs of heart disease after 72 hours of the race. In parallel, the results showed a variation in both the number and the type of circulating microRNAs in each race. In addition, the specialists verified that these microRNAs were released in a regulated manner during exercise and, therefore, they were part of the body's response to exercise. Specifically, the bioinformatic analysis they carried out allowed them to identify that these circulating biomarkers could be associated with regenerative phenomena in the heart.
The coordinator of the work recalls that it has also been described that the expression of microRNA not only changes when we exercise, but also with diet, so the researchers carried out a strict control of the food consumed by the volunteers who participated in this study, both before, during and after each race.
From a practical point of view, the results of this work show that circulating microRNAs could have a relevant role in the repair of limited cardiac damage induced by exercise, which opens the door to the development of pharmacological modulators based on these microRNAs that simulate the effect of exercise. Currently, numerous research groups around the world are working on the pharmacological or dietary modulation of the function of microRNAs for the treatment of diseases and to improve the health of the population. This study is the finding that exercise also modifies the expression of some circulating microRNAs and can play a complementary role in this context.
The awarded work is the result of the collaboration of several teams in which they have participated, in addition to the University of Oviedo, the Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute of Barcelona, the San Pablo-CEU University of Madrid, the IMDEA Food Institute of Madrid , the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sports and the Hospital Valle del Nalón.
No comments:
Post a Comment