Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Mar 29;11(1):7097.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-86430-9.

Beneficial effects of whole-body cryotherapy on glucose homeostasis and amino acid profile are associated with a reduced myostatin serum concentration

Marta Kozłowska  1 , Jakub Kortas  2 , Małgorzata Żychowska  3 , Jędrzej Antosiewicz  4 , Klaudia Żuczek  5 , Silvia Perego  6 , Giovanni Lombardi  6   7 , Ewa Ziemann  8
Affiliations

Beneficial effects of whole-body cryotherapy on glucose homeostasis and amino acid profile are associated with a reduced myostatin serum concentration

Marta Kozłowska et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of single and chronic (10 sessions) whole-body cryotherapy (WBC; 3-min, - 110 °C) on amino acid (AA) profile, myostatin, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), and concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), irisin and adiponectin in relation to glucose homeostasis. Thirty-five, healthy men were randomly split into experimental (young: 28 ± 7 years and middle-aged: 51 ± 3 years) and control groups. Blood samples were taken before and 1 h after the first and last (10th) WBC session. Baseline myostatin correlated significantly with visceral fat area, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR and irisin (all p < 0.05). The single session of WBC induced temporary changes in AA profile, whereas chronic exposure lowered valine and asparagine concentrations (p < 0.01 and p = 0.01, respectively) compared to the baseline. The chronic WBC reduced fasting glucose (p = 0.04), FGF21 (- 35.8%, p = 0.06) and myostatin (-18.2%, p = 0.06). Still, the effects were age-dependent. The decrease of myostatin was more pronounced in middle-aged participants (p < 0.01). Concentrations of irisin and adiponectin increased in response to chronic WBC, while BDNF level remained unchanged. By improving the adipo-myokine profile, chronic WBC may reduce effectively the risk of the metabolic syndrome associated with hyperinsulinemia, increased levels of valine and asparagine, and muscle atrophy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Group- and age-related changes post a single session of the WBC in concentrations of (a) BDNF; (b) myostatin; (c) irisin and (d) adiponectin; recorded before (I) and 1 h after the first (Ih) as well as before (II) and 1 h after the last (IIh) WBC session. WBC-EXP (n = 22) included young (YG, n = 9) and middle aged (MG, n = 13) participants. Data are presented as mean ± SD; *statistical significance in the group; #statistical difference between groups at a time point, +statistical significance in the group MG vs WBC-CON.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation coefficients between BDNF and irisin in the WBC-EXP (n = 22) group (a) prior to and (b) after chronic WBC. Values are Spearman correlations, significant at p < 0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Changes in the concentration of FGF21 (data are presented as mean ± SEM) recorded: (a) at each point of blood collection: (I) before WBC, (Ih) 1 h after the first WBC, (II) before the last WBC and (IIh) 1 h after the last WBC; (b) in the WBC-EXP group with age-dependent changes before the first (I) and the last (II) session of WBC. *p < 0.05 significant differences between time point measurements.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Graphical conclusion–proposed interpretation of the findings. WBC inhibited FGF21 in the liver, triggered skeletal muscle mass shivering, which lead to an increased release of irisin, and stimulated brown fat tissue to reduce myostatin and white fat tissue to release adiponectin.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The experiment schedule. Blood collection: (I) before the first WBC session, (Ih) 1 h after the first WBC, (II) before the last WBC session and (IIh) 1 h after the last WBC session. Baseline assessment: body composition assessment and cardiorespiratory fitness measurement. Final assesment: body composition asesssement.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Petersen MC, Shulman GI. Mechanisms of insulin action and insulin resistance. Physiol. Rev. 2018;98:2133–2223. doi: 10.1152/physrev.00063.2017. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Freeman, A. M. & Pennings, N. in StatPearls (2020).
    1. Fletcher B, Gulanick M, Lamendola C. Risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus. J. Cardiovasc. Nurs. 2002;16:17–23. doi: 10.1097/00005082-200201000-00003. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Slawik M, Vidal-Puig AJ. Lipotoxicity, overnutrition and energy metabolism in aging. Ageing Res. Rev. 2006;5:144–164. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2006.03.004. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barzilai N, Huffman DM, Muzumdar RH, Bartke A. The critical role of metabolic pathways in aging. Diabetes. 2012;61:1315–1322. doi: 10.2337/db11-1300. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources