Transient Increase in Homocysteine but Not Hyperhomocysteinemia during Acute Exercise at Different Intensities in Sedentary Individuals

Abstract

Considering that hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the purpose of this study was to determine the kinetics of serum homocysteine (tHcy) and the vitamins involved in its metabolism (folates, B12, and B6) in response to acute exercise at different intensities. Eight sedentary males (18–27 yr) took part in the study. Subjects were required to complete two isocaloric (400 kcal) acute exercise trials on separate occasions at 40% (low intensity, LI) and 80% VO2peak (high intensity, HI). Blood samples were drawn at different points before (pre4 and pre0 h), during (exer10, exer20, exer30, exer45, and exer60 min), and after exercise (post0, post3, and post19 h). Dietary, genetic, and lifestyle factors were controlled. Maximum tHcy occurred during exercise, both at LI (8.6 (8.0–10.1) µmol/L, 9.3% increase from pre0) and HI (9.4 (8.2–10.6) µmol/L, 25.7% increase from pre0), coinciding with an accumulated energy expenditure independent of the exercise intensity. From this point onwards tHcy declined until the cessation of exercise and continued descending. At post19, tHcy was not different from pre-exercise values. No values of hyperhomocysteinemia were observed at any sampling point and intensity. In conclusion, acute exercise in sedentary individuals, even at HI, shows no negative effect on tHcy when at least 400 kcal are spent during exercise and the nutritional status for folate, B12, and B6 is adequate, since no hyperhomocysteinemia has been observed and basal concentrations were recovered in less than 24 h. This could be relevant for further informing healthy exercise recommendations.

Muscular contraction frequency does not affect plasma homocysteine concentration in response to energy expenditure- and intensity-matched acute exercise in sedentary males

“…Deminice et al (2016) also provided evidence that the elevation of tHcy as a consequence of an acute bout of exercise does not cause hyperhomocysteinemia. However, we have previously shown a 26% increase in tHcy (Iglesias-Gutiérrez et al 2012), which could have physiological or clinical relevance.…”

“…The underlying mechanism remains unclear, although our previous data suggest that it could be related to increased energy expenditure (Iglesias-Gutiérrez et al 2012), since the maximal tHcy concentration occurred during exercise. At the same time, we have also showed that it could be related to changes in renal function in response to exercise (Venta et al 2009).…”

“…We have previously reported that acute exercise at high and low intensity in healthy sedentary individuals causes a transient increase of plasma tHcy proportional to the intensity of exercise, but not hyperhomocysteinemia (Iglesias-Gutiérrez et al 2012).…”

What do we know about homocysteine and exercise? A review from the literature

“…These authors suggested that the high intensity sustained by the runners comparing to the 100 km run and mountain bike race, can have more rest periods during trials, being a possible answer of this response. In contrast, other research studies including different intensities showed that the tHcy increase is independent of the intensity of the exercise [11,24] or type of exercise [22]. Sotgia et al [21], who compared athletes and non-athletes subjects, found no changes in tHcy after acute exercise but a decrease in the Homocysteine reduced form [21].…”

“…Moreover, it seems that there is some consensus about the increase of folate, vitamin B 12 after acute exercise, competition or training programs [11,46]. Vitamin B 6 is required as coenzyme of transaminases, decarboxylases and glycogen phosphorylase in metabolic pathways of energy production, but in contrast, results from the study of Iglesias-Gutierrez et al [24], did not reported any relationship between vitamin B 6 and substrate utilization during different intensities throughout the trials [24]. On the other hand, Herrmann et al [17], suggest that endurance athletes had a higher prevalence of B vitamin deficiency due to the high necessity of vitamin B 6 and folate not only during exercise but also during training [47] because vitamin B 6 is necessary to fuel working muscles and to repair damaged tissue [5].…”