The time course and mechanisms of change in biomarkers of joint metabolism in response to acute exercise and chronic training in physiologic and pathological conditions

Abstract

PurposeThe benefits of exercise across the lifespan and for a wide spectrum of health and diseases are well known. However, there remains less clarity as to the effects of both acute and chronic exercise on joint health. Serum biomarkers of joint metabolism are sensitive to change and have the potential to differentiate between normal and adverse adaptations to acute and chronic load. Therefore, the primary objective of this review is to evaluate how serum biomarkers can inform our understanding of how exercise affects joint metabolism.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was completed to identify joint biomarkers previously used to investigate acute and chronic exercise training.ResultsIdentified biomarkers included those related to joint cartilage, bone, synovium, synovial fluid, and inflammation. However, current research has largely focused on the response of serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) to acute loading in healthy young individuals. Studies demonstrate how acute loading transiently increases serum COMP (i.e., cartilage metabolism), which is mostly dependent on the duration of exercise. This response does not appear to be associated with any lasting deleterious changes, cartilage degradation, or osteoarthritis.ConclusionSeveral promising biomarkers for assessing joint metabolism exist and may in future enhance our understanding of the physiological response to acute and chronic exercise. Defining ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ biomarker responses to exercise and methodological standardisation would greatly improve the potential of research in this area to understand mechanisms and inform practice.

An exploratory study to investigate the association between age, physical activity, femoral trochlear cartilage thickness and biomarkers of tissue metabolism in adult males

“…Several promising biomarkers exist, including, serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), HA (hyaluronan), and lubricin. These markers are understood to reflect cartilage turnover (Saxne et al 1992 ; Sharif et al 1995 ), joint inflammation/synovial proliferation (Seebeck and Haima 2013 ), and joint lubrication, respectively (Roberts et al 2019 ). For example, baseline levels of serum COMP have been found to be elevated following knee injury (Catterall et al 2010 ), OA (Neidhart et al 2000 ) and rheumatoid arthritis (Law et al 2015 ); such increases may reflect a shift toward increased cartilage degradation.…”

Short-term Response of Serum Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein to Different Types of Impact Loading Under Normal and Artificial Gravity

“…Increasing resting COMP levels were observed by Hoch et al (2012) over the season for collegiate soccer athletes. In addition, it is recommended for the examination of bone biomarkers that the seasonal variants should be considered ( Roberts et al, 2019 ). Most of the participants in this study were sports students, and the first three measurements (AGJ, SJS, and EGJ) were performed during semester break, while the data of the RUN protocol were collected during semester when the general physical activity could be considered higher because of practical courses.…”

Biomarkers of Joint Damage in Osteoarthritis: Current Status and Future Directions

“…Several biochemical markers are usually the 3 Mediators of Inflammation byproduct of cartilage breakdown, bone metabolism, lipid metabolism, and the component of extracellular matrix molecules which are released into the blood or body fluids during the process of tissue turnover. For this reason, different combinations of markers were reported to play an important role in the prognosis of the disease [22]. However, very few biomarkers (type II procollagen carboxy type 2-propeptide (CPII), N-propeptide type IIA collagen (PIIANP), collagen (uCTX-II), COLL2-1, and its nitrate form COLL2-1NO2 Fibulin-3 epitope, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), pentosidine and adipokines, etc.)…”