Histamine H1 and H2 receptors are essential transducers of the integrative exercise training response in humans

Thibaux Van der Stede, Laura Blancquaert, Flore Stassen, Inge Everaert, Ruud Van Thienen, Chris Vervaet, Lasse Gliemann, Ylva Hellsten, Wim Derave*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)
33 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Exercise training is a powerful strategy to prevent and combat cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, although the integrative nature of the training-induced adaptations is not completely understood. We show that chronic blockade of histamine H1/H2 receptors led to marked impairments of microvascular and mitochondrial adaptations to interval training in humans. Consequently, functional adaptations in exercise capacity, whole-body glycemic control, and vascular function were blunted. Furthermore, the sustained elevation of muscle perfusion after acute interval exercise was severely reduced when H1/H2 receptors were pharmaceutically blocked. Our work suggests that histamine H1/H2 receptors are important transducers of the integrative exercise training response in humans, potentially related to regulation of optimal post-exercise muscle perfusion. These findings add to our understanding of how skeletal muscle and the cardiovascular system adapt to exercise training, knowledge that will help us further unravel and develop the exercise-is-medicine concept.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberabf2856
JournalScience Advances
Volume7
Issue number16
Number of pages11
ISSN2375-2548
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).

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