It is well established that regular exercise is good for our bodies, not least for protection against obesity, but scientists continue to look more closely at why this happens at the molecular level.
In a new study, researchers put mice on intense treadmill training and analyzed how chemicals in animal cells then began to change over time. They discovered the emergence of a metabolite called Lac-Phe (N-lactoyl-phenylalanine), synthesized from lactate and phenylalanine.
Phenylalanine is an amino acid that combines to produce protein, and you may be familiar with lactate: It is produced by the body after strenuous exercise and causes a burning sensation after a workout that is felt in the muscles.
The authors of the study believe that they have discovered an important biological pathway opened by exercise, which then affects the rest of the body – especially in the level of appetite and the amount of food consumed.
Additional tests confirmed these results. The researchers gave high doses of Lac-Phe to mice on a high-fat diet, which resulted in mice eating about half as much over the next 12 hours compared to a group of control mice. Meanwhile, the movement and energy expenditure of animals remain unchanged.
Over a period of 10 days, doses of Lac-Phe resulted in a decrease in food intake, subsequent weight loss and improved glucose tolerance in mice. These are positive results when thinking about ways to combat obesity and obesity-related diseases.
However, there were some warnings. Differences in appetite suppression caused by Lac-Phe are noticeable only after training and in mice on a high-fat diet. The same effects were not observed in more sedentary mice fed normally.
The researchers also looked at the effects of exercise in humans and racehorses, finding elevated levels of Lac-Phe here as well, especially after sprinting in humans. However, the effects of the suitcase have not been considered and more research will be needed to see if these results are fully translated into human beings.
By shedding more light on the molecular responses to physical activity, the results of the study will help in a number of areas of research, including treatment.
There is probably much more to discover. The researchers note that because Lac-Phe is produced in many cell types in mice, it’s likely that it’s not just the muscles in the body that know when we’re training.
“Future work to uncover the downward molecular and cellular mediators of Lac-Phe action in the brain may provide new therapeutic opportunities to capture the cardiometabolic benefits of physical activity for human health,” the researchers wrote.
The study is published in Nature.
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