Targeted Lipidomics and Inflammation Response to Six Weeks of Sprint Interval Training in Male Adolescents

Abstract

Lipids play an important role in coordinating and regulating metabolic and inflammatory processes. Sprint interval training (SIT) is widely used to improve sports performance and health outcomes, but the current understanding of SIT-induced lipid metabolism and the corresponding systemic inflammatory status modification remains controversial and limited, especially in male adolescents. To answer these questions, twelve untrained male adolescents were recruited and underwent 6 weeks of SIT. The pre- and post-training testing included analyses of peak oxygen consumption (VO₂peak), biometric data (weight and body composition), serum biochemical parameters (fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triacylglycerol, testosterone, and cortisol), inflammatory markers, and targeted lipidomics. After the 6-week SIT, the serum C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β significantly decreased (p < 0.05), whereas IL-6 and IL-10/TNF-α significantly increased (p < 0.05). In addition, the targeted lipidomics revealed changes in 296 lipids, of which 33 changed significantly (p < 0.05, fold change > 1.2 or <1/1.2). The correlation analysis revealed that the changes in the inflammatory markers were closely correlated with the changes in some of the lipids, such as LPC, HexCer, and FFA. In conclusion, the 6-week SIT induced significant changes in the inflammatory markers and circulating lipid composition, offering health benefits to the population.

Keywords: inflammation; lipidomics; male adolescent; sprint interval training.

Figure 1

Characterization of serum lipids pre- and post-sprint interval training: (a) PCA (principal component analysis) of serum lipids pre- and post-sprint interval training; (b) volcano plot demonstrating the changes in serum lipids induced by sprint interval training. Lipids with labeling fold change > 1.5 or <1/1.5 and p < 0.05.

Figure 2

Spearman correlations between changes in differential serum lipids and inflammatory markers. The dot size represents the correlation value. The shade of the dot color represents significance (blue, negative correlation; red, positive correlation).