Exercise-induced changes in β-adrenergic-receptor mRNA level measured by competitive RT-PCR

Fujii, Nobuharu, Takeshi Shibata, Sachiko Homma, Haruo Ikegami, Kazuo Murakami, and Hitoshi Miyazaki. Exercise-induced changes in β-adrenergic-receptor mRNA level measured by competitive RT-PCR. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(6): 1926–1931, 1997.—Competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis was used to clarify whether dynamic exercise-induced increases in β-adrenergic-receptor (β-AR) number in human lymphocytes are accompanied by increases in the β-AR mRNA level. Sixteen healthy subjects performed cycle ergometry until exhaustion. Before and immediately after exercise, peripheral blood was drawn from a forearm vein for preparation of lymphocytes. Both the β-AR mRNA level and the β-AR number were significantly increased by exercise. The changes in β-AR mRNA level and β-AR number were significantly correlated ( r = 0.63, P < 0.01). This finding suggests that a rapid increase in β-AR mRNA level might be an early adaptive response of the sympathetic nervous system to dynamic exercise. In vitro incubation of lymphocytes with epinephrine had no effect on β-AR mRNA levels, nor did adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate, protein kinase C, or intracellular Ca2+ increase the β-AR mRNA level in vitro. Therefore, it appears that other mechanisms underlie the exercise-induced elevation of β-AR mRNA levels in human lymphocytes.