Submission Date

4-29-2024

Document Type

Paper- Restricted to Campus Access

Department

Biology

Adviser

Stephen Kolwicz Jr.

Committee Member

Marcus J. Wagner

Committee Member

Matthew S. Leslie

Department Chair

Dale Cameron

Project Description

Exercise has a variety of health benefits that include weight loss, increased muscle strength, and improved mental health. More specifically, acute exercise has been suggested to increase insulin sensitivity, although the duration of the improved insulin sensitivity has been reported to last anywhere from 4-72 hours. In addition, changes in gene expression in response to exercise is suggested to last up to 72 hours. Despite this, exercise training studies analyze metabolism anywhere from 24 to 72 hours after the last exercise session, which could confuse the acute versus chronic exercise effects. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the duration of insulin sensitivity after acute exercise and the impact of acute exercise on metabolic gene expression. Male and female mice endured a single bout of acute aerobic exercise for 60 minutes at 15 meters per minute, at a 10% incline. Insulin sensitivity tests were conducted at 30 minutes, 4 hours, and 24 hours following acute exercise. Furthermore, skeletal muscle was harvested at 30 minutes and 24 hours following exercise and gene expression analysis was performed. Results indicated females have increased insulin sensitivity compared to males independent of exercise. However, males showed increased sensitivity up to 30 minutes following exercise while females did not. Both male and female mice had upregulation as long as 24 hours in key metabolic genes following one bout of acute exercise. The results show that acute exercise does not significantly affect insulin sensitivity 24 hours after exercise but the effects of acute exercise on metabolic gene expression persist as long as 24 hours.

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