Acute strength exercise training impacts differently the HERV-W expression and inflammatory biomarkers in resistance exercise training individuals

Background Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs) are fossil viruses that composes 8% of the human genome and plays several important roles in human physiology, including muscle repair/myogenesis. It is believed that inflammation may also regulate HERV expression, and therefore may contribute in the muscle repair, especially after training exercise. Hence, this study aimed to assess the level of HERVs expression and inflammation profile in practitioners’ resistance exercises after an acute strength training session. Methods Healthy volunteers were separated in regular practitioners of resistance exercise training group (REG, n = 27) and non-trained individuals (Control Group, n = 20). All individuals performed a strength exercise section. Blood samples were collected before the exercise (T0) and 45 minutes after the training session (T1). HERV-K (HML1-10) and W were relatively quantified, cytokine concentration and circulating microparticles were assessed. Results REG presented higher level of HERV-W expression (~2.5 fold change) than CG at T1 (p Conclusion REG individuals exhibited a significant upregulation of HERV-W and modulation of inflammatory markers when compared to CG. This combined effect could potentially support the process of skeletal muscle repair in the exercised individuals.