High intensity exercise downregulates FTO mRNA expression during the early stages of recovery in young males and females

Jessica Danaher; Christos G Stathis; Robin A Wilson; Alba Moreno-Asso; R Mark Wellard; Matthew B Cooke

doi:10.1186/s12986-020-00489-1

High intensity exercise downregulates FTO mRNA expression during the early stages of recovery in young males and females

Nutr Metab (Lond). 2020 Aug 17:17:68. doi: 10.1186/s12986-020-00489-1. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Jessica Danaher¹, Christos G Stathis², Robin A Wilson^{3

4}, Alba Moreno-Asso^{2

4}, R Mark Wellard⁵, Matthew B Cooke^{4

6}

Affiliations

¹ School of Science, College of Science, Engineering and Health, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
² Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
³ School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York, USA.
⁴ Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science (AIMSS), Department of Medicine-Western Health, Melbourne Medical School, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁵ Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
⁶ Department of Health and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC 3122 Australia.

Abstract

Background: Physical exercise and activity status may modify the effect of the fat mass- and obesity-associated (FTO) genotype on body weight and obesity risk. To understand the interaction between FTO's effect and physical activity, the present study investigated the effects of high and low intensity exercise on FTO mRNA and protein expression, and potential modifiers of exercise-induced changes in FTO in healthy-weighted individuals.

Methods: Twenty-eight untrained males and females (25.4 ± 1.1 years; 73.1 ± 2.0 kg; 178.8 ± 1.4 cm; 39.0 ± 1.2 ml.kg.min^{- 1} VO_2peak) were genotyped for the FTO rs9939609 (T > A) polymorphism and performed isocaloric (400 kcal) cycle ergometer exercise on two separate occasions at different intensities: 80% (High Intensity (HI)) and 40% (Low Intensity (LO)) VO_2peak. Skeletal muscle biopsies (vastus lateralis) and blood samples were taken pre-exercise and following 10 and 90 mins passive recovery.

Results: FTO mRNA expression was significantly decreased after HI intensity exercise (p = 0.003). No differences in basal and post-exercise FTO protein expression were evident between FTO genotypes. Phosphorylated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160) were significantly increased following HI intensity exercise (p < 0.05). Multivariate models of metabolomic data (orthogonal two partial least squares discriminant analysis (O2PLS-DA)) were unable to detect any significant metabolic differences between genotypes with either exercise trial (p > 0.05). However, skeletal muscle glucose accumulation at 10 mins following HI (p = 0.021) and LO (p = 0.033) intensity exercise was greater in AA genotypes compared to TT genotypes.

Conclusion: Our novel data provides preliminary evidence regarding the effects of exercise on FTO expression in skeletal muscle. Specifically, high intensity exercise downregulates expression of FTO mRNA and suggests that in addition to nutritional regulation, FTO could also be regulated by exercise.

Trial registration: ACTRN12612001230842. Registered 21 November 2012 - Prospectively registered, https://www.anzctr.org.au/.

Keywords: Exercise; Expression; FTO; Metabolomics; Skeletal muscle.