Dynamic Metabolic Changes Driven by Exercise Intensity in Acute Swimming.

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Metabolomics
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Understanding physiological responses to exercise intensity is crucial for personalized training.
• High-throughput omics technologies offer novel insights into exercise-induced metabolic changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish an intensity-specific human acute swimming exercise model.
• To create a swimming metabolome atlas to understand physiological responses.
• To identify commonalities and differences in metabolic responses under varying exercise intensities.

Main Methods:

• 42 healthy young adults were divided into moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) groups.
• Blood samples were collected at multiple time points for metabolomics and lipidomics analysis.
• Wearable devices monitored physiological parameters during acute swimming exercise.

Main Results:

• HIIT group exhibited higher average speeds and maximum heart rates than MICT.
• 209 metabolites significantly changed post-exercise, with 5 showing intensity-dependent characteristics.
• N-acetylvaline (NAV) strongly correlated with lactic acid, suggesting potential as an intensity biomarker.
• Both MICT and HIIT upregulated the TCA cycle, with distinct patterns in amino acid and lipid metabolism.

Conclusions:

• An intensity-specific acute swimming model was successfully established.
• N-acetylvaline (NAV) shows promise as a novel exercise intensity biomarker.
• The swimming metabolome atlas elucidates intensity-dependent substrate utilization and recovery, particularly in emotional regulation and lipid metabolism.