Exercise is also medicine for iron homeostasis.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is gaining popularity as an effective exercise modality to improve cardiometabolic health. Combining high-throughput/sensitivity proteome analyses in subcutaneous adipose tissue with biochemical blood measures, Larsen et al. recently provided mechanistic insights into a potential beneficial role of this exercise modality on iron homeostasis at the whole-body level.

Exercise Intolerance in McArdle Disease: A Role for Cardiac Impairment? A Preliminary Study in Humans and Mice.

INTRODUCTION: Whether cardiac impairment can be fully discarded in McArdle disease-the paradigm of 'exercise intolerance', caused by inherited deficiency of the skeletal muscle-specific glycogen phosphorylase isoform ('myophosphorylase')-remains to be determined. METHODS: Eight patients with McArdle disease and seven age/sex-matched controls performed a 15-minute moderate, constant-load cycle-ergometer exercise bout followed by a maximal ramp test. Electrocardiographic and two-dimensional transthoracic (for cardiac dimension's assessment) and speckle tracking [for left-ventricle global longitudinal (GLS) assessments] echocardiographic evaluations were performed at baseline. Electrocardiographic and GLS assessments were also performed during constant-load exercise and immediately upon maximal exertion. Four human heart biopsies were obtained in individuals without McArdle disease, and in-depth histological/molecular analyses were performed in McArdle and wild-type mouse hearts. RESULTS: Exercise intolerance was confirmed in patients ('second wind' during constant-load exercise, -55% peak power output vs controls). As opposed to controls, patients showed a decrease in GLS during constant-load exercise, especially upon second wind occurrence, but with no other between-group difference in cardiac structure/function. Human cardiac biopsies showed that all three glycogen phosphorylase-myophosphorylase, but also liver and especially brain-isoforms are expressed in the normal adult heart, thereby theoretically compensating for eventual myophosphorylase deficiency. No overall histological (including glycogen depots), cytoskeleton, metabolic or mitochondrial (morphology/network/distribution) differences were found between McArdle and wild-type mouse hearts, except for lower levels of pyruvate kinase M2 and translocase of outer membrane 20 kDa subunit in the former. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence that cardiac structure and function seem to be preserved in patients with McArdle disease. However, the role for an impaired cardiac contractility associated with the second wind phenomenon should be further explored.

Exercise prehabilitation program for patients under neoadjuvant treatment for rectal cancer: A pilot study

Context: Prehabilitation is emerging as a method of preparing patients physically and mentally for the often disabling effects of cancer treatment. Aims: This study aims to assess the feasibility and to explore the potential effects of a prehabilitation program consisting of educational physical exercise sessions in patients with rectal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy treatment (NCRT). Settings and Design: This was a pilot study with 12 patients (3 males and 9 females, age 61 ± 7 years). Subjects and Methods: The program included six educational sessions of exercise during NCRT. Adherence to the intervention; quality of life (QoL); anxiety and depression; body mass index; physical fitness (peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), handgrip and dynamic leg strength); and physical activity (PA) levels were measured. Statistical Analysis Used: Data are reported as the mean ± standard deviation or medians and interquartile ranges for questionnaire-derived data. Secondary outcome measures were compared using the nonparametric Wilcoxon test. The threshold P value for significance was calculated after correction for multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni method. Results: Adherence to the program was 64 of 72 possible exercise education sessions completed, i.e., 89%. We detected a trend toward a significant improvement in VO2peak after the intervention (P = 0.015), together with reduced scores for both depression (P = 0.017) and the QoL domain “emotional function” (P = 0.027). Mean levels of moderate to vigorous PA tended to increase after the exercise program (P = 0.091). Conclusions: Exercise might be an effective prehabilitation strategy for surgery during the period of NCRT.