El dilluns dia 07/07/2025 a les 10:00h la Sra. Fidanka Vasileva ha fet la lectura de la tesi doctoral titulada: "Physical exercise-induced health benefits: The potential role of exerkine secretion and epigenetic modifications", dirigida per la Dra. Anna Prats-Puig, el Dr. Abel López-Bermejo i la Dra. Raquel Font Lladó.

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) is widely recognized for its positive impact on health. However, despite its well-documented health benefits, the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Therefore, the general objective of this thesis was to study the health benefits induced by exercise in children and adults, as well as to explore the underlying mechanisms behind these benefits.

The thesis findings indicate a more favorable cardio-metabolic profile in children who are more physically active, as compared to less physically active ones (Study 1). Interestingly, the current findings suggest that PA may modulate cardio-metabolic health in children in a volume-dependent manner. In this thesis, we also showed for the first time that the recently identified cardiac-enriched FHL2 interacting protein (CEFIP) can be conveniently quantified in saliva of healthy children (Study 2). Moreover, salivary CEFIP was related to more sedentary time, as well as higher diastolic-to-systolic blood pressure ratio in these children.

With regard to exerkine secretion, we found a higher increase in salivary high-molecular-weight adiponectin (HMW-adiponectin) and salivary brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in children who performed a 3-month integrated neuromuscular training (INT), as compared to children that followed the traditional physical education classes (Study 3 and Study 4, respectively). Also, the 3-month INT induced greater improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength and the mastery of fundamental motor skills in these children as compared to the traditional physical education classes. These findings highlight the positive impact of the school-based intervention for pediatric population.

Furthermore, different types of training interventions induced differential methylation changes in skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, blood and sperm of healthy adults (Study 5), whereas a 3-month INT induced DNA methylation changes in saliva of healthy children (Study 6). It is worthwhile noting that the training interventions in both, adults and children, induced epigenetic modifications in genes considered to have high relevance and essential importance within the human genome, i.e., the so called core genes. More precisely, 19 core genes were differentially methylated in skeletal muscle of adults following an aerobic training intervention, whereas 17 core genes were differentially methylated in saliva of children following a 3-month INT. Finally, taken together, the present thesis provides novel insights into the potential role of exerkine secretion and exercise-induced epigenetic modifications as underlying mechanisms that seem to offer plausible explanations for the exercise-induced health benefits.