Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40960642›Full record

Trial reportEuropean journal of applied physiology2026

Acute nutritional ketosis during early recovery from aerobic exercise does not affect skeletal muscle transcriptomic response in humans.

Erick Mosquera-Lopez, Julien Louis, Jason P Edwards, Jamie Pugh, Mark R Viggars, Daniel J Owens, Jose L Areta

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in European journal of applied physiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Erick Mosquera-LopezResearch Institute for Sport & Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores University, Tom Reilly BuildingByrom St Campus, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0505-0352
Julien LouisResearch Institute for Sport & Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores University, Tom Reilly BuildingByrom St Campus, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9109-0958
Jason P EdwardsResearch Institute for Sport & Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores University, Tom Reilly BuildingByrom St Campus, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1563-1924
Jamie PughResearch Institute for Sport & Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores University, Tom Reilly BuildingByrom St Campus, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5930-4709
Mark R ViggarsDepartment of Physiology and Aging, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0722-7051
Daniel J OwensResearch Institute for Sport & Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores University, Tom Reilly BuildingByrom St Campus, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1908-8677
Jose L AretaResearch Institute for Sport & Exercise Sciences (RISES), Liverpool John Moores University, Tom Reilly BuildingByrom St Campus, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK. j.l.areta@ljmu.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6918-1223

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeNutritional ketosis is purported to enhance skeletal muscle recovery and adaptation to exercise, yet precise adaptive mechanisms are unknown. We investigated the post-exercise molecular response to ketone monoesters (KME) in skeletal muscle by characterising the early transcriptomic response.

methodsFollowing a randomised, double-blind, crossover design, recreationally active men (n = 9, age: 26 ± 5 (means ± SD) y; V̇O

resultsRecovery ßHB concentrations were higher in KME (4.1 ± 0.7 mM) vs PLA (0.1 ± 0.0 mM, P < 0.001). Erythropoietin (EPO) showed a main effect of time (P = 0.044), but no condition effect (P = 0.087) or interaction (P = 0.318). Skeletal muscle glycogen decreased post-exercise (-57%, P < 0.001) as expected, but showed no condition effect (P = 0.889) or interaction (P = 0.907). We measured the expression of 16,898 genes, and despite a clear time effect on the skeletal muscle transcriptome (1561 differentially expressed genes post vs pre-exercise; q < 0.05 fold change > ± 1.5), there was no effect of condition.

conclusionsKME did not demonstrate an effect on EPO concentration, muscle glycogen or transcriptome, suggesting DNA translation is likely not a process directly regulated by acute ketonaemia that increases early post-exercise.

Indexed as

ExerciseKetosisMuscle, SkeletalTranscriptomeAdultCross-Over StudiesDouble-Blind MethodGlycogenHumansMaleGlycogenAerobic exerciseErythropoietinGene expression profilingGlycogen metabolismKetone supplementation

Identifiers

PMID40960642
PMCPMC12948831

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 OpenQuestion graph.