Exercise Induces Cell's Housekeeping Process

Mouse study has offered initial proof that exercise stimulates autophagy, way by which a cell responds to starvation and other stresses by degrading broken or unwanted parts of itself to make energy.

It is sometimes called the cell's housekeeping pathway.

Exercise - Benefits - Planning - Workout-Schedule - Tips to Lose Weight
It is important for us to understand the power of daily exercise. Only then can we motivate ourselves to inculcate the habit of exercise on a daily basis.

This finding has led the UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers to suggest that the health benefits of exercise on blood sugar metabolism may come from the body's ability to devour itself.

"Exercise is known to have many health benefits but the mechanisms have been unclear. Autophagy is also known to have several health benefits, and these benefits correspond closely to the effects of exercise. We hypothesized that some of the health benefits of exercise might be explained through autophagy," said senior author Dr. Beth Levine, professor of internal medicine and microbiology who leads the Center for Autophagy Research at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Levine, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator at the medical center, decided to focus on one specific health effect of exercise - the ability of exercise to prevent blood sugar abnormalities in the face of a high-fat diet.

Exercise and Fitness - Benefits - Classification - Options - Kick Off
Exercise is about revamping your lifestyle, not just weight loss. Exercise to get healthy – that way, you’ll last longer at it and get better results.

The researchers found that mice genetically unable to increase autophagy in response to short-term exercise have decreased endurance and fail to experience the normal benefits of exercise on blood sugar metabolism.

This discovery led the team to investigate whether autophagy is important in the protective effects of chronic exercise on diabetes. A high-fat diet induced diabetes-like changes in blood sugar metabolism in both control mice and in test mice that were genetically unable to increase autophagy above baseline levels, said Dr. Congcong He, lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Levine's lab.

Exercise Stress Test / Treadmill Test-Performed-Prepare-Interpreting
A stress test is used to test for heart disease. Exercise stress test is also called exercise electrocardiogram, treadmill test, graded exercise test, or stress ECG.

However, the researchers found that exercise reversed these blood sugar abnormalities in control mice but not in the autophagy-deficient mice.

"Our finding that exercise fails to improve glucose metabolism in autophagy-deficient mice strongly suggests that autophagy is an important mechanism by which exercise protects against diabetes," said Dr. Levine.

Resting Metabolic Rate - Increasing - Home Exercise - FAQ - Video
Understanding how metabolic process is regulated and what factors affect the same is crucial before adopting any fitness regimen.

"It also raises the possibility that activation of autophagy may contribute to other health benefits of exercise, including protection against cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and aging, Dr. Levine stated.

The finding was reported in the journal Nature.

Source-ANI