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HAEMATOPOIESIS

Exercise lowers leptin and leukocytosis

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 20, pages 2–3 (2020)Cite this article

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Physical activity offers numerous benefits. But a new study shows for the first time that exercise also has effects in the bone marrow, instructing haematopoietic niche cells via leptin and reducing the supply of inflammatory leukocytes. The findings help to explain how a sedentary lifestyle is linked to chronic inflammation and cardiovascular disease.

So, how might physical activity alter leukocyte supply? The authors noted increased transcription of the genes important for HSPC quiescence and retention in the bone marrow, such as Cxcl12, Vcam1, Kitl and Angpt1. Further analysis revealed that these genes were only increased in bone marrow stromal cells expressing leptin receptor (LEPR) and not in other cells that comprise the haematopoietic cell niche. In exercising mice, visceral adipose tissue produced lower levels of leptin than in sedentary mice. Consistent with a role for leptin, supplementing exercising mice with leptin using a subcutaneous pump reversed the exercise-induced changes in haematopoiesis and gene expression in the bone marrow.

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Original article

  • Frodermann, V. et al. Exercise reduces inflammatory cell production and cardiovascular inflammation via instruction of hematopoietic progenitor cells. Nat. Med. 25, 1761–1771 (2019)

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  1. Nature Reviews Immunology http://www.nature.com/nri/

    Lucy Bird

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  1. Lucy Bird
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Correspondence to Lucy Bird.

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Bird, L. Exercise lowers leptin and leukocytosis. Nat Rev Immunol 20, 2–3 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-019-0253-1

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