Researchers discover a new link between sex and the effects of exercise on weight loss

Professor Min-Jeong Shin and her research team published an article in the international academic journal Metabolism—Clinical and Experimental.

▲ From left to right: So-Young Kwak in a combined master’s and doctoral program at Korea University (lead author), 

Professor Hyeon-Soo Kim, Korea University College of Medicine (corresponding author), 

and Professor Min-Jeong Shin, Korea University School of Biosystems and Biomedical Sciences (corresponding author)

A team of researchers has found a clue as to why the effects of exercise on weight loss as a treatment for obesity have been sex-specific.

Min-Jeong Shin, a professor at the School of Biosystems and Biomedical Sciences at Korea University’s College of Health Science, and her research team (including So-Young Kwak in a combined master’s and doctoral program at Korea University and Professor Hyeon-Soo Kim at Korea University’s College of Medicine) have found that the activity of ATPase inhibitory factor 1 (IF1), a protein that indicates the effects of exercise, is sex-specific and involved in weight regulation by controlling food intake.

These findings have been published in the January 30 online edition of Metabolism—Clinical and Experimental, an internationally recognized journal in the field of endocrinology and metabolism, with an impact factor of 6.513.

* The title of the article: Sex specific effect of ATPase inhibitory factor 1 on body weight: studies in high fat diet induced obese mice and genetic association studies in humans

* Article link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0026049520300354?via%3Dihub

* Authors: Min-Jeong Shin (corresponding author), So-Young Kwak (lead author), Christos S. Mantzoros (co-author), Hyeon-Soo Kim (corresponding author)

It is well known that losing body fat through regular exercise is generally more effective in men than women, but the mechanism behind this is still unclear. Change in appetite after exercise is also sex-specific. However, most previous research on sex hormones only investigated the phenomenon, and lacked in-depth examination of its causes and mechanisms.

Professor Shin and her team focused on myokine, a hormone secreted by muscle. They revealed for the first time in the world that IF1 activation is modulated in a sex-specific manner and that IF1 administration reduces appetite and weight gain in high fat diet (HFD)-induced obese male mice. IF1 injection into the body activates proopiomelanocortin (POMC) by directly affecting the hypothalamic cells and improves energy metabolism, resulting in weight loss.