A stress protein rises after prolonged running or cycling
A pooled analysis found higher blood concentrations after exercise, with variation linked to exercise conditions and participants’ aerobic fitness.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Plasma concentrations of a stress-related protein rose on average after prolonged running or cycling. The amount of change varied with aerobic fitness, session duration, intensity and environmental temperature. This describes an acute biological response; it does not show that a larger response means better health or greater exercise benefit.
The abstract provides no participant demographics or detailed session durations. Its before-and-after comparisons and statistical associations cannot establish which exercise conditions independently caused larger protein responses.
What researchers found
Rise in plasma HSP70 concentration
Raw mean difference after versus before prolonged exercise; 95% CI [0.13, 1.34].
What the protein represents
The review describes this extracellular heat shock protein as a danger signal for the immune system. Researchers measured it in plasma to study how the body responds to physiological stress during sustained exercise.
Why responses differed
The analysis examined several potential sources of variation, including fitness, exercise characteristics and surrounding conditions. Its statistical model linked some of these factors to the response, without testing whether changing them would improve any clinical outcome.
The original publication
Plasma heat shock protein-70 response to acute prolonged exercise: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression.
Charoensap T, Kilding AE, Barrett AMS et al.
J Appl Physiol (1985) · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41494650
- Record checked
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