CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 427Cannabis and Cannabinoid ResearchStress Responses and CortisolExercise and Physiological Responses

Intense exercise increases circulating endocannabinoid and BDNF levels in humans–possible implications for reward and depression

Heyman, E., Gamelin, F.-X., Goekint, M., Piscitelli, F., Roelands, B., Leclair, E., Di Marzo, V., Meeusen, R.·2012·Psychoneuroendocrinology
DOI 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.09.017
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

The endocannabinoid system is known to have positive effects on depression partly through its actions on neurotrophins, such as Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). As BDNF is also considered the major candidate molecule for exercise-induced brain plasticity, we hypothesized that the endocannabinoid system represents a crucial signaling system mediating the beneficial antidepressant effects of exercise. Here we investigated, in 11 healthy trained male cyclists, the effects of an intense exercise (60 min at 55% followed by 30 min at 75% W(max)) on plasma levels of endocannabinoids (anandamide, AEA and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, 2-AG) and their possible link with serum BDNF. AEA levels increased during exercise and the 15 min recovery (P<0.001), whereas 2-AG concentrations remained stable. BDNF levels increased significantly during exercise and then decreased during the 15 min of recovery (P<0.01). Noteworthy, AEA and BDNF concentrations were positively correlated at the end of exercise and after the 15 min recovery (r>0.66, P<0.05), suggesting that AEA increment during exercise might be one of the factors involved in exercise-induced increase in peripheral BDNF levels and that AEA high levels during recovery might delay the return of BDNF to basal levels. AEA production during exercise might be triggered by cortisol since we found positive correlations between these two compounds and because corticosteroids are known to stimulate endocannabinoid biosynthesis. These findings provide evidence in humans that acute exercise represents a physiological stressor able to increase peripheral levels of AEA and that BDNF might be a mechanism by which AEA influences the neuroplastic and antidepressant effects of exercise.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.09.017

Cites

50 of 50 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Plasma AEA concentrations are increased during and shortly after intense exercise (60 min at 55% followed by 30 min at 75% Wmax) in healthy trained male cyclists.

    “For instance, a recent study involving 11 healthy trained male cyclists found plasma AEA concentrations to be increased during and shortly after intense exercise (i.e., 60 min at 55% followed by 30 min at 75% W max ; Heyman et al., 2012).”

    From Sleep restriction alters plasma endocannabinoids concentrations before but not after exercise in humans (2016) · cites this paper as Heyman et al., 2012

  • Studies using acute physical exercise as stressor found an increase of plasma AEA but not 2AG.

    “Studies utilizing acute physical exercise as stressor have however found different responses, i.e., an increase of plasma concentrations of AEA but not 2AG (Heyman et al., 2012;Raichlen et al., 2013;Sparling et al., 2003).”

    From Sleep restriction alters plasma endocannabinoids concentrations before but not after exercise in humans (2016) · cites this paper as Heyman et al., 2012

  • Physical stress induced by strenuous exercise during mountaineering or cycling resulted in elevated EC concentrations which returned to baseline after termination of the stressful activity.

    “Physical stress in trained and physically fit individuals induced by strenuous exercise during mountaineering or cycling also resulted in elevated EC concentrations which returned to baseline after termination of the stressful activity [37], [38].”

    From Plasma concentrations of endocannabinoids and related primary fatty acid amides in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (2013) · cites this paper as [38]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Heyman, E., Gamelin, F.-X., Goekint, M., Piscitelli, F., Roelands, B., Leclair, E., Di Marzo, V., & Meeusen, R.
Affiliations
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
  • Université de Lille (FR)
  • Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare (IT)
Corresponding author
Heyman, E.
ORCID
Venue
Psychoneuroendocrinology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-06
Volume
37
Issue
6
Pages
844-851
ISSN
0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.09.017
OpenAlex
W2098853434
Cited by
427
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 24 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 11
FWCI
13.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Research Council of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (OZR607-990-1236-1595)
  • Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
Keywords
endocannabinoid system, anandamide, 2-arachidonoylglycerol, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, high-intensity exercise, acute exercise, antidepressant effects of exercise, neuroplasticity, cortisol, post-exercise recovery, reward
MeSH terms
Adult, Amides, Arachidonic Acids, beta-Endorphin, Bicycling, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, Depression, Ethanolamines, Glycerides, Hematocrit, Humans, Male, Oleic Acids, Palmitic Acids, Reward, Mass Spectrometry, Exercise, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, PPAR alpha, Polyunsaturated Alkamides, Young Adult, Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators, Endocannabinoids

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review