DOI: 10.1249/tjx.0000000000000284 ISSN: 2379-2868

Appetite Regulation in Response to Acute Exercise among Weight-Loss Treatment Responders vs Nonresponders: A Pilot Study

Loretta DiPietro, Steven K. Malin, Matthew Barbiero, Kyle Levers, Eric Heinz, Melissa A. Napolitano
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ABSTRACT

Introduction

The reason for weight-loss heterogeneity in response to lifestyle interventions is not clear. Important regulators of food intake and energy expenditure include peripheral hormonal signals from insulin, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), leptin, and ghrelin. Herein, we examine the hormonal regulators of appetite and satiety following a high-volume bout of moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise in responders and nonresponders to a 6-month, digitally delivered, weight-loss lifestyle intervention.

Methods

Young adults (27.7 ± 3.7 yr; 11 female, 1 male) characterized as responders (n = 7; lost 3% of their initial body weight) and nonresponders (n = 5) participated in a 60-min treadmill exercise challenge, consisting of three 15-min intervals at 80% of peak oxygen consumption (V̇O2peak), with 5 min of walking at 50% V̇O2peak between intervals. Blood samples were obtained prior to and immediately after exercise and 30 and 60 min after exercise during seated recovery for determination of plasma glucose, insulin, GLP-1active, leptin, and acylated ghrelin. Univariate analyses (mean ± standard deviation) and Cohen’s d described between-group differences in hormone responses to exercise.

Results

Glucose and leptin responses during the exercise challenge and recovery were similar for nonresponders and responders; however, nonresponders had higher insulin concentrations post-exercise compared to responders (9.8 ± 3.5 μU·mL−1 vs 6.2 ± 2.2 μU·mL−1 at 30 min (d = 1.23); 9.4 ± 1.8 μU·mL−1 vs 6.3 ± 2.1 μU·mL−1 at 60 min (d = 1.54)). Concentrations of GLP-1active also appeared higher in nonresponders compared to responders following exercise (12.2 ± 2.8 pmol·L−1 vs 9.3 ± 1.1 pmol·L−1 (d = 1.36)), but this difference disappeared after 30 min of recovery. Ghrelin levels were lower in the nonresponders following exercise (308 ± 27 pg·mL−1 vs 494 ± 98 pg·mL−1 (d = −2.58)) and remained so over the recovery period (287.4 ± 12.3 pg·mL−1 vs 392.1 ± 47.2 pg·mL−1 at 30 min (d = −3.08); 313.0 ± 39.8 pg·mL−1 vs 393.9 ± 60.8 pg·mL−1 at 60 min (d = −1.21)).

Conclusions

These findings support potential appetite hormonal differences in the heterogenous weight-loss response to lifestyle therapy. A better understanding of how exercise affects appetite regulation in young adults with overweight and obesity could help with precision care.

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