About this Research Topic
Regular exercise and physical activity are a cornerstone of the prevention and treatment of widespread cardiometabolic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. On a cellular and molecular level, virtually all processes dysregulated in disease and involved in the response and adaptation of the body to exercise are under the control of the biological clock. This circadian regulation that allows us to adapt to the changes of day and night in the span of 24 hours modulates energy metabolism, inflammatory processes, cellular renewal, and even the interplay with the gut microbiota. Together, this elucidates why time-of-day is an important factor in maximizing the health benefits of exercise and physical activity for disease prevention and treatment.
While several pre-clinical and clinical studies have demonstrated a time-of-day dependent effect of exercise on energy metabolism in recent years, the "best" time to train to achieve the greatest positive impact on metabolic health remains unknown. This may in part be due to the complexity of the interaction with other cues modulating circadian rhythmicity such as light exposure, sleep, timing of food intake, food choices, hormonal changes, or a person's chronotype. With this Research Topic, we aim to assess the value of timed exercise and physical activity as therapeutic interventions for a large range of cardiometabolic diseases. The characterization of exercise-responsive molecular processes in individual cell types or tissues may furthermore support the development of exercise-mimicking drugs in the era of chronomedicine.
Within this quickly moving field, our Research Topic will feature recent advancements in these areas:
- Pre-clinical and clinical evidence supporting the therapeutic value of timed physical activity or exercise in cardiometabolic health
- Circadian interventions aimed at improving physical fitness
- Mechanistic interactions between exercise or physical activity and other “Zeitgebers” such as food intake or sleep
- Experimental evidence for the involvement of the molecular clock in the exercise adaptation of skeletal muscle or other tissues
- Systematic assessments of potential targets for exercise-mimicking drugs in the context of circadian rhythms
We welcome authors to submit original mechanistic, pre-clinical or clinical research articles, reviews, mini reviews, methods, and commentaries.
While several pre-clinical and clinical studies have demonstrated a time-of-day dependent effect of exercise on energy metabolism in recent years, the "best" time to train to achieve the greatest positive impact on metabolic health remains unknown. This may in part be due to the complexity of the interaction with other cues modulating circadian rhythmicity such as light exposure, sleep, timing of food intake, food choices, hormonal changes, or a person's chronotype. With this Research Topic, we aim to assess the value of timed exercise and physical activity as therapeutic interventions for a large range of cardiometabolic diseases. The characterization of exercise-responsive molecular processes in individual cell types or tissues may furthermore support the development of exercise-mimicking drugs in the era of chronomedicine.
Within this quickly moving field, our Research Topic will feature recent advancements in these areas:
- Pre-clinical and clinical evidence supporting the therapeutic value of timed physical activity or exercise in cardiometabolic health
- Circadian interventions aimed at improving physical fitness
- Mechanistic interactions between exercise or physical activity and other “Zeitgebers” such as food intake or sleep
- Experimental evidence for the involvement of the molecular clock in the exercise adaptation of skeletal muscle or other tissues
- Systematic assessments of potential targets for exercise-mimicking drugs in the context of circadian rhythms
We welcome authors to submit original mechanistic, pre-clinical or clinical research articles, reviews, mini reviews, methods, and commentaries.
Keywords: Circadian rhythms, exercise, cardiometabolic diseases, physical activity, time-of-day
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
