The Effects of Exercise on Mitochondrial Function

Authors

• QH Nguyen
• RL Feng
• BL Yuan
• RJ Domingo
• A Nath
• B Walitt
• LN Saligan

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that aerobic exercise can affect the bioenergetic function of mitochondria, but the extent and nature of the effect is poorly understood. Our pilot study aimed to examine effects of physical exercise on mitochondrial respiratory function. Respiratory inhibitors, oligomycin, FCCP (uncoupling agent), and rotenone/antimycin A were used to measure basal oxygen consumption rate, maximal/spare respiration, as well as extracellular acidification rate from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) collected from a healthy control. PBMCs were isolated for the oxidative stress test at baseline (before exercise), 24hrs, 48hrs, and 72hrs post single bout of aerobic exercise. Mitochondrial respiratory function changes related to exercise was measured using Seahorse XFp Analyzer (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA) and the XFp Mito Stress Kit. The findings show that an incremental increase in maximal mitochondrial respiration and mitochondrial spare respiratory capacity were observed 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours after a single bout of aerobic exercise. These results shed light on the effects of exercise on mitochondrial respiratory function, and provided a marker to follow to explain poor recovery after physical exertion, a common symptom reported in several chronic conditions.

Scientific Focus Area: Cell Biology

This page was last updated on Friday, March 26, 2021