Exercise Alters Epigenetics

Exercise causes short-term changes in DNA methylation and gene expression in muscle tissue that may have implications for type 2 diabetes.

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FLICKR, JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD

Exercise can delay the onset of diabetes by boosting the expression of genes involved in muscle oxidation and glucose regulation. A new study, published today (March 6) in Cell Metabolism, suggests that DNA methylation drives some of these changes, and that they can occur within just a few hours of exercise, providing a potential mechanism for how exercise protects the body from metabolic disease.

“It’s one of the first studies that really proves that DNA methylation can affect things in a very short timeframe,” said Marloes Dekker Nitert, who studies diabetes epigenetics at Lund University in Sweden and was not involved in the research.

People with type 2 diabetes are less responsive to insulin than healthy individuals, and thus have difficulties maintaining normal blood sugar ...

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