Acute circulating cartilage-related biomarker responses differ between walking and cycling in healthy young men

The acute effects of different exercise modalities on circulating biomarkers indirectly associated with cartilage-related processes remain incompletely understood. Here, we aimed to investigate the acute impact of walking and cycling on circulating cartilage-related biomarkers in healthy young males.

Twenty healthy males completed two laboratory sessions involving 30 min of walking and 30 min of cycling on separate days. Venous blood samples were collected before exercise, immediately after exercise, and at 30- and 60-minutes post-exercise. Serum MMP-3, COL2A1, YKL-40, and resistin levels were measured using ELISA.

Walking induced more significant acute alterations in cartilage-related biomarkers than cycling. MMP-3 levels diminished significantly during recovery in both modalities, with a more significant reduction observed following walking. COL2A1 and YKL-40 exhibited considerable increases following walking, with sustained elevations lasting up to 60 min, whereas cycling resulted in relatively minor or non-significant alterations. Resistin levels rose following both modalities, irrespective of the type of exercise. Significant correlations were observed between changes in circulating COL2A1 concentrations and changes in both resistin (rₛ = 0.391, p < 0.0001) and YKL-40 (rₛ = 0.239, p < 0.05), whereas MMP-3 was not significantly correlated with the other biomarkers.

Walking was associated with greater acute changes in circulating MMP-3, COL2A1, and YKL-40 concentrations than cycling in healthy young males, indicating different acute circulating biomarker profiles between the two exercise modalities. These findings should not be interpreted as direct evidence of intra-articular cartilage metabolism or long-term effects on joint health.