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Exercise Increases Glucose Transporter-4 Levels on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells
Kendra D Sticka1,1, Theresia M Schnurr1, Scott P Jerome1
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK.
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|December 23, 2017
Summary
Exercise increases glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), suggesting PBMCs can model muscle responses. This finding offers a non-invasive method to study GLUT4 and exercise.
Area of Science:
- Exercise physiology
- Metabolic disease research
- Cellular biology
Background:
- Glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) is crucial in type 2 diabetes pathophysiology.
- Exercise upregulates GLUT4 in skeletal muscle, enhancing glucose transport, a mechanism preserved in insulin resistance.
- Studying muscle GLUT4 is challenging due to invasive biopsy procedures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if exercise conditioning affects GLUT4 levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).
- To assess the potential of PBMCs as a proxy tissue for studying skeletal muscle GLUT4.
- To explore non-invasive methods for understanding GLUT4 regulation.
Main Methods:
- Recruited conditioned athletes and sedentary controls.
- Collected PBMCs using separation tubes.
- Measured PBMC GLUT4 concentrations via ELISA.
- Examined correlations between PBMC GLUT4 and insulin resistance indicators.
Main Results:
- Conditioned athletes showed significantly higher PBMC GLUT4 levels than sedentary individuals.
- Females exhibited higher PBMC GLUT4 levels compared to males.
- No significant correlations were found between PBMC GLUT4 and common insulin resistance markers (HbA1c, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, BMI, body fat).
Conclusions:
- PBMCs demonstrate higher GLUT4 levels in conditioned individuals, mirroring muscle tissue responses.
- This study supports the use of PBMCs as a viable proxy for studying GLUT4 regulation by exercise.
- Offers a promising non-invasive approach for future research on GLUT4 and metabolic health.
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