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Review
. 2014 Dec;3(4):172-179.
doi: 10.1016/j.imr.2014.09.007. Epub 2014 Oct 5.

Exercise-induced myokines in health and metabolic diseases

Byunghun So  1 , Hee-Jae Kim  1 , Jinsoo Kim  1 , Wook Song  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Exercise-induced myokines in health and metabolic diseases

Byunghun So et al. Integr Med Res. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

Skeletal muscle has been emerging as a research field since the past 2 decades. Contraction of a muscle, which acts as a secretory organ, stimulates production, secretion, and expression of cytokines or other muscle fiber-derived peptides, i.e., myokines. Exercise-induced myokines influence crosstalk between different organs in an autocrine, endocrine, or paracrine fashion. Myokines are recently recognized as potential candidates for treating metabolic diseases through their ability to stimulate AMP-activated protein kinase signaling, increase glucose uptake, and improve lipolysis. Myokines may have positive effects on metabolic disorders, type 2 diabetes, or obesity. Numerous studies on myokines suggested that myokines offer a potential treatment option for preventing metabolic diseases. This review summarizes the current understanding of the positive effects of exercise-induced myokines, such as interleukin-15, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, leukemia inhibitory factor, irisin, fibroblast growth factor 21, and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine, on metabolic diseases.

Keywords: exercise; health; metabolic diseases; myokines.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Potential role of exercise-induced myokines. Skeletal muscle expresses and releases myokines into the circulation. Especially under conditions of metabolic diseases including obesity and diabetes, adipose tissue secretes proinflammatory adipokines that promote pathological processes such as atherosclerosis and insulin resistance. However, exercise-induced myokines may balance and counteract the effect of adipokines. In response to muscle contraction following exercise, muscle fibers express myokines such as irisin, IL-15, LIF, BDNF, FGF-21, and SPARC, which subsequently exert their effects locally within the muscle or their target organs. AMPK, AMP-activated protein kinase; BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; FGF-21, fibroblast growth factor 21; IL, interleukin; LIF, leukemia inhibitory factor; SPARC, secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine; UCP-1, uncoupling protein 1.
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