Physical exercise promotes cardiorespiratory fitness, and is considered the mainstream of non-pharmacological therapies along with lifestyle modification for various chronic diseases, in particular cardiovascular diseases. Physical exercise may positively affect various cardiovascular risk factors including body weight, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, lipid and glucose metabolism, heart function, endothelial function, and body fat composition. With the ever-rising prevalence of obesity and other types of metabolic diseases, as well as sedentary lifestyle, regular exercise of moderate intensity has been indicated to benefit cardiovascular health and reduce overall disease mortality. Exercise offers a wide cadre of favorable responses in the cardiovascular system such as improved dynamics of the cardiovascular system, reduced prevalence of coronary heart diseases and cardiomyopathies, enhanced cardiac reserve capacity, and autonomic regulation. Ample clinical and experimental evidence has indicated an emerging role for autophagy, a conservative catabolism process to degrade and recycle cellular organelles and nutrients, in exercise training-offered cardiovascular benefits. Regular physical exercise as a unique form of physiological stress is capable of triggering adaptation while autophagy in particular selective autophagy seems to be permissive to such cardiovascular adaptation. Here in this mini-review, we will summarize the role for autophagy in particular mitochondrial selective autophagy namely mitophagy in the benefit versus risk of physical exercise on cardiovascular function.

Joint stiffness results from the coupling of the nervous system and joint mechanics, and thus stiffness is a comprehensive representation of joint stability. It has been reported that moxibustion can alleviate general weakness and fatigue symptoms and subsequently may influence joint stiffness. This study investigated whether moxibustion could enhance knee joint stiffness in recreational athletes pre- and post-fatigue. Eighteen participants were randomized into intervention (5 males: 20.6 ± 1.5 yr; 4 females: 20.8 ± 1.5 yr) and control groups (5 males: 19.4 ± 0.9 yr; 4 females: 20.5 ± 0.6 yr). The intervention group received indirect moxibustion applied to acupoints ST36 (bilateral) and CV4 for 30 min every other day for 4 consecutive weeks. The control group maintained regular exercise without moxibustion. Peak torque (PT) of right knee extensor, relaxed and contracted muscle stiffness (MS) of vastus lateralis, and knee extensor musculoarticular stiffness (MAS) was assessed with an isokinetic dynamometer (IsoMed 2000), myometer, and free oscillation technique, respectively. Measurements were taken at three time points: pre-intervention, post-intervention/pre-fatigue, and post-fatigue. MAS (P = 0.006) and PT (P = 0.007) in the intervention group increased more from pre-to post-intervention compared with the control group. Post-fatigue MAS (P = 0.016) and PT (P = 0.031) increased more in the intervention group than in the control group. Moxibustion enhanced PT and knee MAS, suggesting that this intervention could be used in injury prevention and benefit fatigue resistance in young recreational athletes.