The intestinal immune response is influenced by nutritional-status and increased physical activity level

Abstract

Beyond its role in digestion and barrier function, the intestine is an energy-responsive organ that actively regulates molecular metabolism. Whether and how lifestyle interventions regulate intestinal metabolism at both tissue and molecular levels remain unclear. Here, we show that both chronic exercise and dietary energy density drive robust, segment-specific intestinal remodeling. Voluntary wheel running in ad-libitum chow fed mice, induced elongation of the small intestine and colon, alongside pronounced, region-specific, transcriptional changes in the proximal, mid, and distal small intestine, particularly within immune and stress-related pathways. Caloric dilution diet also increased intestinal length in mice but elicited transcriptional adaptations, prominently in the proximal small intestine, directly linking energy density and intake to structural and molecular plasticity. In contrast, voluntary wheel running in control-fed and caloric-diluted-fed mice subtly modulated immune-associated gene expression, highlighting that diet and physical activity induce complementary and mechanistically distinct effects on the gut. We further identified an exercise-induced state of intestinal preconditioning. Upon refeeding, sedentary mice mounted robust, segment-specific activation of apoptotic, proliferative, and immune pathways. Similarly, acute treadmill exercise acted as a transient intestinal stressor in sedentary animals by shortening the length of the small intestine and rapidly activating epithelial stress, apoptosis, proliferation, and immune signaling. However, these responses were attenuated in chronically active mice despite higher basal expression of key genes, consistent with adaptive epithelial remodeling. The results suggest that habitual physical activity buffers acute nutritional stress and restrains excessive intestinal immune activation. Finally, translational plasma analyses in humans demonstrate that acute moderate-intensity exercise increases circulating markers of monocyte activation and epithelial stress, including CD14, IL-32, Reg-3-alpha and I-FABP, in both lean and obese individuals. Collectively, these findings suggest that the intestine plays a role as a metabolic organ that integrates energy-sensing signals from diet composition and physical activity.