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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Human Skeletal Muscle Biopsy Procedures Using the Modified Bergström Technique

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Published on: September 10, 2014

Fasting and exercise differentially regulate BDNF mRNA expression in human skeletal muscle.

Jeremy J Walsh¹, Brittany A Edgett, Michael E Tschakovsky

¹School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada.

Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism = Physiologie Appliquee, Nutrition Et Metabolisme

|December 16, 2014

Summary

Fasting, not exercise, significantly increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene expression in human skeletal muscle. This finding offers new insights into how the body responds to energetic stress and BDNF regulation.

Keywords:

PGC-1α energetic stress exercice par intervalle d’intensité élevée high-intensity interval exercise stress énergétique

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Area of Science:

Exercise physiology
Molecular biology
Human skeletal muscle research

Background:

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a crucial role in neuronal and muscle health.
Understanding BDNF gene expression in response to physiological stressors like exercise and fasting is vital.
Previous research has suggested exercise influences BDNF, but responses to different intensities and fasting remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of varying exercise intensities and fasting on BDNF gene expression in human skeletal muscle.
To examine the relationship between BDNF and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α) under these conditions.

Main Methods:

Human skeletal muscle samples were collected after participants underwent three different intensities of exercise.
Gene expression levels of BDNF and PGC-1α were measured using quantitative real-time PCR.
Muscle samples were also analyzed following a 48-hour fasting period.

Main Results:

Exercise at all tested intensities did not significantly alter BDNF mRNA levels in skeletal muscle.
A 48-hour fast resulted in a significant upregulation of BDNF mRNA by approximately 3.5-fold.
Changes in BDNF expression were independent of PGC-1α expression changes, which increased with exercise (2- to 15-fold) and decreased with fasting (-25%).

Conclusions:

Fasting, rather than exercise, appears to be a potent stimulus for increasing BDNF gene expression in human skeletal muscle.
The dissociation between BDNF and PGC-1α responses suggests distinct regulatory pathways for these molecules under energetic stress.
These findings necessitate a re-evaluation of the factors influencing BDNF regulation in skeletal muscle and highlight the need for further research into energetic stress responses.