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. 2022 Jun 29:13:898603.
doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.898603. eCollection 2022.

A Shorter-Bout of HIIT Is More Effective to Promote Serum BDNF and VEGF-A Levels and Improve Cognitive Function in Healthy Young Men

Qing Li  1 , Li Zhang  1 , Zhengguo Zhang  1 , Yuhan Wang  2 , Chongwen Zuo  1 , Shumin Bo  1
Affiliations

A Shorter-Bout of HIIT Is More Effective to Promote Serum BDNF and VEGF-A Levels and Improve Cognitive Function in Healthy Young Men

Qing Li et al. Front Physiol. .

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of single bouts of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with different duration on serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) levels and cognitive function in healthy young men. Methods: Twelve healthy young men were participated in two HIIT treatments (20 min HIIT and 30 min HIIT) in a random order. BDNF, VEGF-A, cortisol, testosterone, blood lactic acid were measured and cognitive function was assessed by Stroop test (CWST) and Digital Span test (DST) before, immediately after, and 30 min after HIIT. Results: 20 and 30 min HIIT increased BLa (both p < 0.01), cortisol (20 min HIIT: p < 0.05; 30 min HIIT: p < 0.01), and testosterone (both p < 0.05) levels immediately when compared with their baselines. While BLa and cortisol were significantly higher in 30 min HIIT group than in 20 min HIIT group. Moreover, BDNF concentration (p < 0.01), DST-F (p < 0.01) and DST-B (p < 0.05) were increased and response time of Stroop was decreased immediately after HIIT only in 20 min HIIT group. VEGF-A concentration was increased immediately after HIIT in both groups (p < 0.01), but after 30 min recovery, it was returned to the baseline in the 20 min HIIT group and was lower than the baseline in 30 min HIIT group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Twenty minutes HIIT is more effective than 30 minutes HIIT for promoting serum levels of BDNF and VEGF-A as well as cognitive function in healthy young men.

Keywords: BDNF; VEGF-A; cognitive function; high-intensity interval training; young men.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Research study design.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The color-word matching Stroop task.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The results of the linear regression analysis. (A): ΔBLa and ΔVEGF-A in 30 minutes HIIT intervention. (B): ΔBLa and ΔBDNF in 30 minutes HIIT intervention. (C): ΔBLa and ΔVEGF-A in 20 minutes HIIT intervention. (D): ΔBLa and ΔBDNF in 20 minutes HIIT intervention.
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