Study record
Associations of Serum MOTS-c with Exercise Capacity and Antioxidant Markers in Young Males: A Cross-Sectional Study
Zhang Z, Zhang X, Wang C et al. · Antioxidants (Basel) · 2026
What this study reported
Measured progressively higher serum MOTS-c from sedentary to recreationally active to elite athlete groups of young males. Reported strong positive correlations of serum MOTS-c with peak oxygen uptake, superoxide dismutase, back muscle endurance and post-fatigue force, a strong inverse correlation with post-exercise malondialdehyde, and no significant correlation with handgrip strength.
Limitations
Very small groups of 10 young males each; cross-sectional design precludes causal inference; multiple strong correlations in a small sample risk overfitting.
Study record
| Study model | Human observational |
|---|---|
| Substance studied | Endogenous MOTS-c measuredNaturally occurring MOTS-c was measured; nothing was given. |
| Species | human |
| System studied | Healthy young males stratified as elite track and field athletes, recreationally active and sedentary; serum MOTS-c and fitness testing |
| Population | healthy males aged 18-25 in three activity strata |
| Design | Cross-sectional study |
| Sample size as reported | 30 males (10 athletes, 10 recreationally active, 10 sedentary) |
| Control group | sedentary controls |
| Route (data field only) | Not reported |
| Endpoints measured | serum MOTS-c; superoxide dismutase and post-exercise malondialdehyde; peak oxygen uptake; back muscle endurance and post-fatigue force; handgrip strength and vertical jump |
| Pathways measured | Oxidative stress |
| Research areas | Exercise · Skeletal muscle · Mitochondrial biology |
| Evidence tier | B — Other human study |
| Publication types | Journal Article |
Appraisal
Each dimension is recorded separately and never combined into a single score. A study can be well controlled and still tell you little about people.
- Relevance to MOTS-c
- Direct
- Model applicability
- Human
- Sample size
- Small
- Controls
- Appropriate
- Outcome validity
- Surrogate
- Support for its own conclusion
- Weak
Provenance
- Bibliographic fields retrieved from PubMed E-utilities efetch (title, journal, date, authors, DOI) on 2026-11-11.
- Annotated from the published abstract.
- Editorial review: approved (2026-11-11).
- Classification follows the site methodology; the record describes the study, not what MOTS-c does in people.