Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Xiaoling Chen
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Jun He
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Ping Zheng
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Yuheng Luo
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Aimin Wu
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Bing Yu
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Daiwen Chen
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
Metabolic disorders are highly prevalent in modern society. Exercise mimetics are defined as pharmacological compounds that can produce the beneficial effects of fitness. Recently, there has been increased interest in the role of eugenol and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) in improving metabolic health. The aim of this study was to investigate whether eugenol acts as an exercise mimetic by activating TRPV1. Here, we showed that eugenol improved endurance capacity, caused the conversion of fast-to-slow muscle fibers, and promoted white fat browning and lipolysis in mice. Mechanistically, eugenol promoted muscle fiber-type transformation by activating TRPV1-mediated CaN signaling pathway. Subsequently, we identified IL-15 as a myokine that is regulated by the CaN/nuclear factor of activated T cells cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1) signaling pathway. Moreover, we found that TRPV1-mediated CaN/NFATc1 signaling, activated by eugenol, controlled IL-15 levels in C2C12 myotubes. Our results suggest that eugenol may act as an exercise mimetic to improve metabolic health via activating the TRPV1-mediated CaN signaling pathway.
