Effect of Different Exercise on the Kynurenine Metabolic Pathway in Female Drug Addicts

Objective: To investigate the effects of different exercise on the kynurenine pathway(KP) in female drug addicts.Methods: 40 female drug addicts were recruited randomly from the Nanan District Female Compulsory Drug Rehabilitation Center in Chongqing City. They were randomly divided into four groups, yoga group(n=10), meditation group(n=10), physical fitness group(n=10), and control group(n=10). A 12-week exercise training intervention was conducted in each group, the training protocol was 3 times per week, 1 hour per time. Ultra-high liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(UHPLC-MS/MS) was used to quantitatively detect and analyze the serum kynurenine(KYN) and kynurenic acid(KA) contents before and after training intervention. Results: A significant increase of serum KYN content and decrease of KA content were observed in female drug addicts. After training, KYN content in the yoga group, meditation group and physical fitness group was decreased significantly(P<0.01), and the yoga group was significantly lower than the meditation group, physical fitness group and the control group(P<0.05);KA content in the yoga group, physical fitness group and the meditation group was increased significantly(P<0.01), and the yoga group was significantly higher than the meditation group, physical fitness group and the control group(P<0.05). Conclusion: 1) 12-week yoga, meditation and physical fitness training can reduce KYN content and increase KA content in female drug addicts, and the reward function is improved by regulating KP, which result in the lower risk of taking drugs again; 2) the yoga group is better in regulating Kynurenine metabolism than meditation group and physical fitness group, which may be attributed to the increase in KA content and the improvement in anxiety. Moreover, it is suggested that the combination of exercise and meditation may be more conducive to improving the withdrawal response.