Science Advances: Exercise can improve tumor-related anemia

Anemia is a common complication of cancer patients, which can cause tissue hypoxia and is an important factor affecting the quality of life of cancer patients
.

At present, erythropoietin is the main method for the treatment of tumor-related anemia, which can effectively increase the patient's hemoglobin level

Recently, researchers from the University of Basel have studied the causes of tumor-associated anemia and found that the anemia in tumor patients is derived from tumor-induced inflammation and metabolic remodeling
.

In this regard, the researchers proposed a method that can effectively alleviate anemia in patients, that is, to adjust the metabolic changes and related inflammations that occur due to tumors through sports to alleviate anemia

Remodeling of metabolism and inflammation by exercise ameliorates tumor-associated anemia Science Advances

Researchers use primary cancer models to analyze the occurrence of tumor-related anemia
.

In the experiment, the researchers injected Lewis lung cancer (LLC) cells subcutaneously into the flanks of mice, and the tumor induced severe anemia within 3.
5 weeks

Tumor-induced metabolic changes accelerate red blood cell apoptosis

Metabolic changes caused by tumors accelerate red blood cell apoptosis .
Metabolic changes caused by tumors accelerate red blood cell apoptosis.

How does a tumor cause this abnormality in red blood cells? Because the main metabolic remodeling caused by tumors can change the red blood cell environment, the researchers measured the levels of blood lactic acid, free fatty acids and triglycerides in the plasma of tumor mice, and the results showed that the levels of these three metabolites were greatly increased
.

In order to analyze whether the increase of metabolites would reduce the survival rate of red blood cells, the researchers isolated red blood cells from healthy mice and simulated the tumor microenvironment to process healthy red blood cells
.

Subsequently, Modulin V was used to detect red blood cells with phosphatidylserine eversion (a marker of apoptosis), and it was found that changes in the metabolic environment accelerated the phosphatidylserine eversion

(Illustration: Reduced red blood cell survival rate leads to tumor-related anemia)

(Illustration: reduced survival rate of red blood cells leads to tumor-related anemia) (Illustration: reduced survival rate of red blood cells leads to tumor-related anemia)

In addition, the researchers sorted phagocytes by flow cytometry fluorescence sorting technology and measured gene expression, and found that compared with control mice, phagocytes in the spleen of tumor mice expressed high levels of interleukin and blood lactic acid, speculation Interleukin and lactic acid may enhance the activity of phagocytes to phagocytic red blood cells
.

The researchers treated the spleen cells of healthy mice with pathological levels of interleukin and lactic acid, then co-cultured them with untreated red blood cells and designed a control group
.

It was found that pretreatment of spleen cells with interleukin and lactic acid caused the spleen cells to engulf more red blood cells

Exercise can extend the lifespan of red blood cells by lowering blood lactic acid and interleukin levels

Exercise can extend the lifespan of red blood cells by lowering blood lactate and interleukin levels Exercise can extend the lifespan of red blood cells by reducing blood lactate and interleukin levels

In order to analyze whether exercise can effectively improve tumor-related anemia, the researchers compared the red blood cell survival status of tumor mice under drug intervention and exercise intervention
.

In contrast, under the state of exercise intervention, the lipid distribution in tumor mice was normalized, and phosphatidylserine eversion was significantly reduced, indicating that the red blood cell apoptosis was improved
.

And the increase in the size of red blood cells has also become normal, indicating that exercise can slow down the development of anemia

(Illustration: Exercise relieves tumor-related anemia by normalizing metabolism)

(Illustration: Exercise alleviates tumor-related anemia by normalizing metabolism ) (Illustration: Exercise alleviates tumor-related anemia by normalizing metabolism)

In addition, by evaluating the levels of interleukins in mice with exercise tumors, the researchers found that the levels of interleukins in their bodies are restricted by exercise
.

In addition, exercise also reduces the increase in blood lactic acid

At present, there is no drug that can effectively improve the occurrence of tumor-related anemia.
This study not only brings an effective method for cancer patients, but also provides a new insight for the development of tumor-related anemia
.

By improving the metabolic changes brought about by tumors to maintain an environment conducive to the survival of red blood cells, exercise can alleviate patients' anemia to a considerable extent, significantly improve their physical functions, and increase patients' tolerance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy

Original source:

Original source:

REGULA FURRER, et al.
Remodeling of metabolism and inflammation by exercise ameliorates tumor-associated anemia .
Science advances, 2021.

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