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. 2024 Dec;12(24):e70122.
doi: 10.14814/phy2.70122.

The relationship between muscle sympathetic nerve activity and serum fatty acid binding protein 4 at rest and during isometric handgrip exercise

Tadayuki Hirai  1 , Takuto Hamaoka  1   2 , Hisayoshi Murai  1   3 , Hiroyuki Sugimoto  1 , Yusuke Mukai  1 , Ayano Nomura  1 , Takashi Kusayama  1 , Tatsunori Ikeda  1 , Shinichiro Takashima  1 , Takeshi Kato  1 , Kenji Sakata  1 , Soichiro Usui  1 , Shigeo Takata  3 , Masayuki Takamura  1
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The relationship between muscle sympathetic nerve activity and serum fatty acid binding protein 4 at rest and during isometric handgrip exercise

Tadayuki Hirai et al. Physiol Rep. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) is highly expressed in adipocytes. Lipolysis, caused by an elevated adrenergic input, has been suggested to contribute to elevated serum FABP4 levels in patients with cardiovascular diseases. However, the relationship between the serum FABP4 and efferent sympathetic nerve activity remains poorly understood. Twenty-one healthy subjects (average age, 29.1 years; 15 men) performed an isometric handgrip (HG) exercise at 30% of the maximal voluntary contraction until they were fatigued. The beat-by-beat heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) were recorded. Blood samples were collected at rest and at the time of peak fatigue. The MSNA, HR, and systolic BP were significantly increased by the HG exercise (all, p < 0.05). MSNA was obtained from 14 patients. The change in the FABP4 on HG exercise was significantly correlated with the change in MSNA (bursts/100 heartbeats) (R = 0.808, p < 0.001) but not with changes in other parameters, which might, in part, reflect an association of efferent sympathetic drive with FABP4. Meanwhile, resting FABP4 levels were not associated with any parameters including MSNA, in healthy individuals. Future studies on patients with elevated sympathetic activity are warranted to examine the relationship further.

Keywords: FABP4; catecholamines; handgrip exercise; lipolysisv; sympathetic nervous system.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A subject flow diagram. Baseline data were recorded from 21 subjects. MSNA data were successfully obtained from 14 of these individuals.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Typical recordings of MSNA. At rest and during exercise in a participant with a large MSNA and FABP4 increase versus in a participant with a small MSNA and FABP4 increase. The magnitude of change in FABP4 is positively correlated with the rate of increase in MSNA.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Relationships between the change in FABP4 by HG exercise and other parameters. The axes of the figure represent the change in FABP4, MSNA, NE, or TG. The changes in FABP4 were significantly correlated with the variation in MSNA (a, b) but not with changes in NE (c) or TG (d) levels. Male participants are represented by black circles, while female participants are represented by diamond symbols.
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