Research Paper Volume 15, Issue 3 pp 765—776
Senolytic effect of high intensity interval exercise on human skeletal muscle
- 1 Department of Anesthesiology, Far East Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City 220, Taiwan, ROC
- 2 Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry, University of Taipei, Taipei City 11153, Taiwan, ROC
- 3 Department of Leisure Industry and Health Promotion, National Ilan University, Ilan, Taiwan, ROC
- 4 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
- 5 Cardiovascular and Mitochondrial Related Disease Research Center, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien 970, Taiwan, ROC
- 6 Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan, ROC
- 7 Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan, ROC
- 8 College of Physical Education, Chengdu University, Sichuan, China
Received: August 18, 2022 Accepted: January 23, 2023 Published: February 8, 2023
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204511How to Cite
Copyright: © 2023 Jean et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
p16INK4a expression is a robust biomarker of senescence for stem cells in human tissues. Here we examined the effect of exercise intensity on in vivo senescence in skeletal muscle, using a randomized counter-balanced crossover design. Biopsied vastus lateralis of 9 sedentary men (age 26.1 ± 2.5 y) were assessed before and after a single bout of moderate steady state exercise (SSE, 60% maximal aerobic power) and high intensity interval exercise (HIIE, 120% maximal aerobic power) on a cycloergometer accumulating same amount of cycling work (in kilojoule). Increases in cell infiltration (+1.2 folds), DNA strand break (+1.3 folds), and γ-H2AX+ myofibers (+1.1 folds) occurred immediately after HIIE and returned to baseline in 24 h (p < 0.05). Muscle p16Ink4a mRNA decreased 24 h after HIIE (−57%, p < 0.05). SSE had no effect on cell infiltration, p16Ink4a mRNA, and DNA strand break in muscle tissues. Senescence-lowering effect of HIIE was particularly prominent in the muscle with high pre-exercise p16INK4a expression, suggesting that exercise intensity determines the level of selection pressure to tissue stem cells at late senescent stage in human skeletal muscle. This evidence provides an explanation for the discrepancy between destructive nature of high intensity exercise and its anti-aging benefits.