Acute Effects of High Impact Exercise on Bone Metabolism

The goal of this study is to investigate the acute effects of drop-landing exercise on the bone metabolism biomarkers and extracellular vesicles in healthy young males, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanotransduction mechanisms involved in bone metabolism.

The main question aims to answer:

• Does a single bout acute drop-landing exercise change serum sclerostin, other bone signaling markers, and circulating extracellular vesicles levels?

Participants complete both the drop-landing and control trials in a randomized order, with a minimum washout period of one week between trials. During each trial, blood samples are collected at three time points: pre-, immediately post, and 1-hour post drop-landing/control exercise.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Health Adults
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Exercise

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 15
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Leicestershire
    • Loughborough, Leicestershire, United Kingdom, LE11 3TU
      • Loughborough University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18-35 years old
• Healthy
• Male
• Body mass index (BMI) of 18.5-29.9
• Can understand and follow trial instructions

Exclusion Criteria:

• Have any uncontrolled cardiovascular or respiratory disease
• Have severe musculoskeletal or neurological disease likely to affect ability to perform an exercise
• Have medical conditions known to affect musculoskeletal health
• Have medications known to affect bone metabolism (e.g., corticosteroids, thyroxine, antiepileptic, and antiretroviral agents)
• Regular (more than once per week) participation in high-intensity resistance or impact-type exercise in the past 6 months
• Current smoker or vaper

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Arm Drop-landing + Control; According to the results of random allocation, participants first perform the drop-landing trial, followed by the control trial, with a minimum interval of one week between the two trials.	Behavioral: Exercise; During the drop-landing trial, participants perform drop-landing exercises from a block calibrated to generate approximately four times their body weight in vertical ground reaction force upon landing, employing a stiff-landing technique. Each repetition is separated by a 30-second interval, and 10 repetitions are performed as 1 set, totalling 6 sets. There is a 2-minute rest break between each set, during which the participants are asked to sit on a chair. The entire drop-landing exercise is recorded on the force plate. During the control trial, participants are required to walk up and down from the same height block without the requirement to perform the drop-landing movement. The number of repetitions, intervals, and rest breaks are completely consistent with the drop-landing exercise.
Experimental: Arm Control + Drop-landing; According to the results of random allocation, participants first perform the control trial, followed by the drop-landing trial, with a minimum interval of one week between the two trials.	Behavioral: Exercise; During the drop-landing trial, participants perform drop-landing exercises from a block calibrated to generate approximately four times their body weight in vertical ground reaction force upon landing, employing a stiff-landing technique. Each repetition is separated by a 30-second interval, and 10 repetitions are performed as 1 set, totalling 6 sets. There is a 2-minute rest break between each set, during which the participants are asked to sit on a chair. The entire drop-landing exercise is recorded on the force plate. During the control trial, participants are required to walk up and down from the same height block without the requirement to perform the drop-landing movement. The number of repetitions, intervals, and rest breaks are completely consistent with the drop-landing exercise.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Serum sclerostin concentration	Serum sclerostin concentration is quantified using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reported in picograms per milliliter (pg/mL).	Blood samples are collected at pre- (baseline), immediately post, 1-hour post drop-landing/control exercise in main trials.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Serum dickkopf Wnt signaling pathway inhibitor 1 (DKK1) concentration	Serum DKK1 concentration is quantified using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reported in picograms per milliliter (pg/mL).	Blood samples are collected at pre- (baseline), immediately post, 1-hour post drop-landing/control exercise in main trials.
Serum osteoprotegerin (OPG) concentration	Serum OPG concentration is quantified using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reported in picograms per milliliter (pg/mL).	Blood samples are collected at pre- (baseline), immediately post, 1-hour post drop-landing/control exercise in main trials.
Serum irisin concentration	Serum irisin concentration is quantified using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reported in picograms per milliliter (pg/mL).	Blood samples are collected at pre- (baseline), immediately post, 1-hour post drop-landing/control exercise in main trials.
Circulating extracellular vesicle (EV) particle concentration and size	EVs are isolated from plasma using ultracentrifugation. EV particle concentration is quantified by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and reported as particles per milliliter (particles/mL). EV size is also assessed by NTA and reported in nanometers (nm).	Blood samples are collected at pre- (baseline), immediately post, 1-hour post drop-landing/control exercise in main trials.
Ground reaction force during drop-landing exercise	Ground reaction force is recorded in newtons (N) during each drop-landing exercise using a force plate in the drop-landing trial. Ground reaction force is reported in multiples of body weight (×BW).	Ground reaction force is recorded during each drop-landing exercise.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Loughborough University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Katherine Brooke-Wavell, Loughborough University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 15, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 14, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 20, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): November 24, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 24, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 20, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Exercise; Bone turnover; Extracellular vesicles; Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavior; Motor Activity; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Exercise
• Other Study ID Numbers: 16204

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED
• IPD Plan Description: Once the analysis is complete and the planned analyses are published, the investigators will consider sharing anonymized IPD upon request, subject to the necessary agreements.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No