Prolonged Endurance Exercise Increases Macrophage Content and Mitochondrial Respiration in Adipose Tissue in Trained Men

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of prolonged endurance exercise on adipose tissue inflammation markers and mitochondrial respiration in younger and older men. METHODS: "Young" (aged 30 years, n = 7) and "old" (aged 65 years, n = 7) trained men were exposed to an exercise intervention of 15 consecutive days biking 7 to 9 hours/day at 63% and 65% of maximal heart rate (young and old, respectively), going from Copenhagen, Denmark to Palermo, Italy. Adipose tissue was sampled from both the gluteal and abdominal depot before and after the intervention. Mitochondrial respiration was measured by high-resolution respirometry, and adipose inflammation was assessed by immunohistochemical staining of paraffin embedded sections. RESULTS: An increased number of CD163+ macrophages was observed in both the gluteal and abdominal depot (P < .01). In addition, an increased mitochondrial respiration was observed in the abdominal adipose tissue from men in the young group with complex I (CIp) stimulated respiration, complex I + II (CI+IIp) stimulated respiration and the capacity of the electron transport system (ETS) (P < .05), and in the older group an increase in CIp and CI+IIp stimulated respiration (P < .05) was found. CONCLUSION: Overall, we found a positive effect of prolonged endurance exercise on adipose tissue inflammation markers and mitochondrial respiration in both young and old trained men, and no sign of attenuated function in adipose tissue with age.