Study wrapper · #1283
Mitochondrial-derived peptides (MDPs) activated by physical exercise as therapeutic targets for metabolic disorders: A systematic review.
Editor's note
Nine heterogeneous studies is a narrow base, and the review reports a direction of effect rather than a pooled estimate; there is no meta-analysis and no formal risk-of-bias synthesis in the abstract. The MOTS-c literature still leans heavily on animal and mechanistic work, so the human exercise signal is suggestive at best. It is also worth separating two propositions that this paper tends to blur: that exercise raises endogenous MOTS-c is a different claim from anything about administered MOTS-c, which the review does not examine.
Plain-language abstract
This systematic review screened 435 records and pooled nine studies asking whether physical exercise changes circulating levels of mitochondria-derived peptides such as humanin and MOTS-c. Most of the included studies reported a trend toward higher peptide levels after exercise, alongside markers of better insulin sensitivity and cellular energy metabolism. The authors are explicit that the evidence base is small and that populations, exercise protocols and study designs varied substantially.