Endurance Exercise Training Alters Lipidomic Profiles of Plasma and Eight Tissues in Rats: a MoTrPAC study

Area of Science:

• Exercise physiology
• Metabolomics
• Lipidomics

Background:

• Endurance exercise training (ExT) induces adaptations through lipidomic modifications.
• A comprehensive understanding of lipidome alterations from ExT is still developing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically discover lipid alterations in various tissues and plasma in response to ExT.
• To investigate the dynamic and sexually dimorphic lipid remodeling induced by ExT.

Main Methods:

• Utilized non-targeted and targeted lipidomics.
• Analyzed brown adipose tissue, heart, hippocampus, kidney, liver, lung, skeletal muscle, subcutaneous white adipose tissue, and plasma.
• Studied male and female Fischer-344 rats over 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks of ExT.

Main Results:

• ExT led to reduced adiposity and improved cardiorespiratory fitness.
• Dynamic triacylglycerol remodeling and enhanced lipid store utilization were observed in most tissues.
• Sexually dimorphic lipid remodeling occurred across tissues, with specific changes in phospholipids, lysophospholipids, oxylipins, and ceramides.
• Coordinated tissue changes suggested systemic communication, particularly involving the liver-plasma-heart axis.

Conclusions:

• ExT induces significant, tissue-specific, and sexually dimorphic lipidomic changes.
• These lipid alterations are linked to improved metabolic health and cardiorespiratory fitness.
• Findings elucidate lipid-associated mechanisms underlying exercise's health benefits.