Is Exercise-Induced Lactate Accumulation Associated with Changes in Acylated Ghrelin? A Systematic Review and...

Area of Science:

• Exercise Physiology
• Endocrinology
• Metabolism

Background:

• Lactate's role in suppressing acylated ghrelin release and activation is proposed.
• Limited synthesis of evidence from acute exercise trials exists.
• Acylated ghrelin is an orexigenic peptide influencing appetite.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if exercise-induced lactate accumulation predicts changes in acylated ghrelin.
• To assess the association between lactate accumulation and acylated ghrelin levels post-exercise.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search across four databases for acute exercise trials measuring lactate and acylated ghrelin.
• Inclusion criteria: healthy adults (18-65 years), acute exercise, pre/post measurements.
• Analysis using linear mixed-effect models and correlations on individual participant data.

Main Results:

• Significant effect of change in lactate (Δ lactate) on change in acylated ghrelin (Δ acylated ghrelin) and its incremental area under the curve (iAUC).
• Δ lactate was negatively correlated with both Δ acylated ghrelin (r=-0.41) and Δ acylated ghrelin iAUC (r=-0.59).
• Data from 12 datasets (169 participants) for Δ analysis and 9 datasets (105 participants) for iAUC analysis.

Conclusions:

• Exercise-induced lactate accumulation significantly influences acylated ghrelin levels.
• Greater lactate accumulation is associated with suppressed acylated ghrelin, suggesting a role in appetite regulation.
• Findings synthesize evidence on the lactate-ghrelin relationship during acute exercise.