Evidence mapPaperPMID 41923121Full record

ArticleBiology of sex differences2026

Sex differences in response to a short-term training program intervention in obese adolescents: a plasma metabolomics study.

Lin Zhu, Xianyan Xie, Huiguo Wang, Zekai Chen

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Article in Biology of sex differences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Lin Zhu *School of Sport and Health, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, 510500, China. 11251@gzsport.edu.cn.
Xianyan Xie *School of Sport and Health, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, 510500, China.
Huiguo WangSchool of Sport and Health, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, 510500, China. 11450@gzsport.edu.cn.
Zekai ChenSchool of Sport and Health, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, 510500, China.

Funding

The National Social Science Fund of China 23ATY007the New Type of Regular Higher Education Institutions Think Tanks in Guangdong Province 2024TSZK017
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis study aims to investigate sex differences in the response to short-term Training Program intervention and the underlying metabolomic mechanisms among obese adolescents.

methodsA total of 98 obese adolescents underwent a 4-week, strictly controlled short-term Training Program intervention. Pre- and post-intervention measurements included body morphometry, body composition, lipid metabolism, and glucose homeostasis indicators. Plasma samples were analyzed using targeted metabolomics. Linear mixed-effects models (LMM) were employed to identify Sex-differential Responsive Metabolites, with volcano plots utilized to visualize metabolic regulation preferences between sexes. Hierarchical clustering analysis identified co-regulated metabolic modules within the Sex-differential Responsive Metabolites for pathway analysis. Partial least squares (PLS) regression models were constructed separately for males and females to identify metabolic biomarkers capable of predicting changes in clinical indicators.

resultsPost-intervention, both males and females showed significant decreases in weight, body mass index (BMI), chest circumference, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, body water, Body fat mass, fat free mass, skeletal muscle mass, body fat percentage, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (P < 0.001). Additionally, HOMA-β levels significantly decreased only in females (P = 0.01). After adjusting for developmental maturity and baseline metabolic risk, the improvements in body fat mass and body fat percentage in males were significantly greater than those in females (both P < 0.01), whereas no statistical differences were found in weight and BMI improvements (P > 0.05). The change in HOMA-β differed significantly between sexes (P = 0.031), with females exhibiting a more pronounced downregulation following the intervention. LMM identified 65 Sex-differential Responsive Metabolites. Hierarchical clustering revealed two co-regulated modules: Module 1 showed a strong upward trend in males but a weak response in females, significantly enriched in the linoleic acid metabolism pathway; Module 2 showed a downward trend in both sexes, but the magnitude of downregulation was more pronounced in males, significantly enriched in pathways related to amino acid catabolism and energy metabolism. PLS model analysis indicated that Sex-differential Responsive Metabolites had predictive capacity for male Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG, R

conclusionsObese adolescents exhibit significant sexual dimorphism in their response to short-term Training Program. Under the same standardized training program, males achieve greater fat reduction and appear to leverage a synergistic strategy of fatty acid oxidation and protein sparing, whereas females prioritize amino-acid network fine-tuning. Predictive modeling indicates that sex-differential metabolites can predict glucolipid improvements in females. These findings provide a scientific basis for developing sex-differential exercise prescriptions for metabolic health.

Indexed as

ObesitySex CharacteristicsAdolescentBody CompositionFemaleHumansMaleMetabolomicsMetabolomicsObese adolescentsSex differencesShort-term training program intervention

Identifiers

PMID41923121
PMCPMC13169799

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.