We all know that exercise helps our bodies in many ways. But how, exactly, does going for a jog or bike ride lead to those beneficial genetic, biochemical, physiological and genetic effects?
An Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation researcher is seeking to answer that question. And a national consortium she’s helping to lead has released its initial findings, which are aimed at better understanding how exercise improves our health at the molecular level.
Ultimately, the project, which involves OMRF and 19 other institutions across the country, could transform the way scientists and physicians view the preventive and restorative benefits of exercise.
OMRF scientist Sue Bodine, Ph.D., serves as a principal investigator and executive steering committee member of the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC), the largest-ever research project on this topic.
“We’ve long known that physical activity is good for us, but our knowledge is limited about the molecular changes that cause these improvements,” Bodine said. “Our goal with this comprehensive study is to change that, relying on scientific experts from a variety of disciplines.”
The National Institutes of Health created the consortium in 2015 and enlisted a group of scientists with specialties in exercise physiology, genetics, biochemistry and computational biology. Their initial studies, begun in 2018, tested the effects of endurance training on rats.
On Wednesday, their findings were published in Nature, one of the world’s most read and most prestigious scientific journals. Nature’s senior editor called the study “unprecedented” and said researchers globally will reference the findings “for years to come.”
Endurance exercise, the researchers found, appears to offer potential protective benefits against many diseases, in particular fatty liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
Bodine, an exercise and muscle physiologist, studied changes in organs and blood of adult rats through eight weeks of progressively challenging endurance exercise.
“What struck me most was the extent of change we saw in virtually every organ from exercise,” she said. “Many of them responded in a way that would suggest a healthier organ system. The results indicate that exercise has protective qualities for individual organs.”
Bodine said the study also looks at how exercise affects each gender differently. Future consortium projects will involve humans and look at the effects of strength training.
“For clinicians, this study is a major first step toward personalized medicine,” said OMRF Vice President of Research Courtney Griffin, Ph.D. “Dr. Bodine and her colleagues hope to provide physicians with rigorous data so that they can better guide individual patients on the benefits of specific exercise regimens.”
Bodine’s research was supported by NIH grant No. U01AG055133.
