Metabolome trajectories in male and female athletes

BACKGROUND: Integrating metabolomics in sports science provides valuable insights into the biochemistry of bodies during physical activity. However, due to their invasiveness, traditional blood sampling methods present challenges in sports settings. The study investigated sex-specific metabolic responses, addressing a significant gap in exercise research, where female participation remains underrepresented.

METHODS: To address this, we explored volumetrically accurate microsampling as a dried blood spot (DBS) technique for assessing metabolomic changes in response to acute exercise in more than 130 participants. This study employed a targeted quantitative approach using isotopically labeled internal standards to measure over 100 metabolites with DBS, providing accurate and traceable results. An accuracy assessment using standard reference material and stability testing over 90 days further evaluated the suitability of DBS for sports metabolomics.

RESULTS: Our findings confirm that DBS offers a valid approach to capture metabolic changes during exercise, with 11 compounds within the confidence interval of the reference material and 59 compounds overlapping with database values. A wide panel of metabolites showed significant changes in differences of absolute concentrations upon bout exercise, with succinate and xanthine being the most significant compounds. Metabolites from the underexplored class of pyrimidines also showed significant changes.

CONCLUSION: While metabolic regulations upon exercise are similar in both sexes, differences in the correlation with fitness-related metadata, such as peak volitional oxygen consumption and performance, indicate a higher complexity in women and a limitation of previous knowledge to men only. The quantification approach together with the simplicity of the sampling paves the way to expand this type of research toward other fields of personalized medical services.