Fig. 1: Effect of exercise on circulating GDF15 in humans.
From: Pharmacological but not physiological GDF15 suppresses feeding and the motivation to exercise
a Plasma GDF15 values before and after 1 h of high-intensity resistance (n = 10) or vigorous endurance exercise (n = 10) and at indicated time points during recovery (p < 0.001). b Plasma GDF15 levels were measured in highly trained elite male triathletes (n = 15) bicycling at 73 ± 1% of maximal heart rate (HRmax) for 4 h, with blood sampling as indicated immediately before, during, and in recovery from exercise (p < 0.001), with one missing value at 28 h. c Plasma GDF15 levels measured before and after a marathon (42.195 km); completing time was 243 ± 8 min [mean ± SEM] (4 h on the figure), with additional measurements of GDF15 on day 2–5 (p < 0.001) and day 9–10 after the marathon (on day 4 and day 9) (n = 20). d On three separate occasions, under three different dietary regimes as indicated, subjects performed cycling exercise at 75% of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) until exhaustion. GDF15 plasma levels were measured pre-exercise and at exhaustion on each occasion (n = 11; standard diet, p < 0.001; low-carb diet, p = 0.0064; high-carb diet, p < 0.001; one missing value in the high-carb group post-exercise). e Relationship between change in GDF15 values (ΔGDF15) and time to exhaustion for the diet-exercise interventions presented in d. f Relationship between change in GDF15 values (ΔGDF15) (from c.) and Δcreatine kinase pre vs. post marathon. g Relationship between change in GDF15 values (ΔGDF15) (from c) with ΔIL-10 plasma values pre vs. post marathon. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001 compared to time-point 0 or as indicated. a Repeated measures two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni multiple comparisons test. b and c Repeated measures One-way ANOVA relative to starting time, d Two-tailed paired t tests for each exercise–diet trial. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
