Exercise and metabolic health: beyond skeletal muscle.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2020

Identifier

DOI: 10.1007/s00125-020-05177-6; PMCID: PMC7377236 (available on 2021-08-01)

Abstract

Regular exercise is a formidable regulator of insulin sensitivity and overall systemic metabolism through both acute events driven by each exercise bout and through chronic adaptations. As a result, regular exercise significantly reduces the risks for chronic metabolic disease states, including type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Many of the metabolic health benefits of exercise depend on skeletal muscle adaptations; however, there is plenty of evidence that exercise exerts many of its metabolic benefit through the liver, adipose tissue, vasculature and pancreas. This review will highlight how exercise reduces metabolic disease risk by activating metabolic changes in non-skeletal-muscle tissues. We provide an overview of exercise-induced adaptations within each tissue and discuss emerging work on the exercise-induced integration of inter-tissue communication by a variety of signalling molecules, hormones and cytokines collectively named 'exerkines'. Overall, the evidence clearly indicates that exercise is a robust modulator of metabolism and a powerful protective agent against metabolic disease, and this is likely to be because it robustly improves metabolic function in multiple organs. Graphical abstract.

Journal Title

Diabetologia

Volume

63

Issue

8

First Page

1464

Last Page

1474

Keywords

Adipose tissue; Endothelium; Exercise; Exerkines; Liver; Muscle; NAFLD; Pancreas; Review; Type 2 diabetes

Link to Full Text
Library Record

Share

COinS