Acute Low-Intensity Treadmill Running Upregulates the Expression of Intestinal Glucose Transporters via GLP-2 in Mice

Abstract

The effects of exercise on nutrient digestion and absorption in the intestinal tract are not well understood. A few studies have reported that exercise training increases the expression of molecules involved in carbohydrate digestion and absorption. Exercise was also shown to increase the blood concentration of glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2), which regulates carbohydrate digestion and absorption in the small intestine. Therefore, we investigated the effects of exercise on the expression of molecules involved in intestinal digestion and absorption, including GLP-2. Six-week-old male mice were divided into a sedentary (SED) and low-intensity exercise (LEx) group. LEx mice were required to run on a treadmill (12.5 m/min, 1 h), whereas SED mice rested. All mice were euthanized 1 h after exercise or rest, and plasma, jejunum, ileum, and colon samples were collected, followed by analysis via IHC, EIA, and immunoblotting. The levels of plasma GLP-2 and the jejunum expression of the GLP-2 receptor, sucrase-isomaltase (SI), and glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) were higher in LEx mice. Thus, we showed that acute low-intensity exercise affects the expression of molecules involved in intestinal carbohydrate digestion and absorption via GLP-2. Our results suggest that exercise might be beneficial for small intestine function in individuals with intestinal frailty.

Glucose and Several Mitogenic Agents Modulate the Glucagon-Like Peptide-2 Receptor Expression in Cultured Rat Astrocytes

“…In addition, GLP-2R expression was also upregulated in hepatic stellate cells of mice with hepatosteatosis [ 9 ]. Likewise, GLP-2R expression was upregulated in the jejunum of mice subjected to acute exercise [ 10 ]. In turn, regulation of the GLP-2R expression has also been studied in several pathologies [ 11–14 ] and under diabetogenic conditions [ 15 ].…”

Female athlete triad affects rat intestinal morphology and sucrase-isomaltase expression

“…Jejunum samples were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) according to protocols from previous studies (12,16) . Mucosal thickness, villus height, crypt depth, and villus width were measured in at least five villi/rat as previously described (17) .…”

“…qPCR was performed with the following conditions: Hold stage; 95 °C for 20 s, PCR stage; 95 °C for 1 s, 60 °C for 20 s, 40 cycles, Melt curve stage; 95 °C for 1 s, 60 °C for 20 s, 95 °C for 1 s. The 28S ribosomal RNA was used as the housekeeping gene. The primer sequences were adopted from a previous study (16) . The primer sequences for the 28S ribosomal RNA were as follows: Accepted manuscript method adapted from Livak and Schmittgen (18) and expressed relative to the levels in the Con group.…”

Physical Exercise or Activity and Energy Balance or Metabolism in the Context of Health and Diseases

“…In an original research article, Aoki et al [25] shows that low-intensity exercise in mice induces increases in the plasma levels of glucagon-like peptide-2, resulting in an upregulation of the expression of proteins associated with carbohydrate digestion (disaccharidase sucrase-isomaltase) and absorption (intestinal glucose transporter 2), demonstrating the beneficial effect of low-intensity exercise in the absorption of carbohydrates in the small intestine.…”