Managing Cardiometabolic Risk

Exercise and Systemic Inflammation

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As might be expected, acute exercise has been shown to increase levels of inflammatory markers, IL-6 in particular (reviewed in(118) ). However, numerous cross-sectional studies have documented an inverse relationship between levels of chronic exercise and systemic levels of inflammatory markers (119-122). The type of exercise also seems to affect inflammation, with joggers and aerobic dancers less likely to have elevated systemic inflammation compared to cyclists, swimmers, and weight-lifters(123) . Exercise intensity moderates exercise’s effect on systemic inflammation and may explain these activity-specific differences, with vigorous exercise appearing to be better than moderate or light exercise at reducing inflammation(124).

Only a few longitudinal studies have examined the effect of exercise training on systemic inflammation (121, 125-127). Most (121, 125, 127) but not all (126) exercise interventions (which ranged in duration from three to nine months) reported significant reductions in inflammation post-intervention. However, exercise-induced improvements in inflammatory status may only be seen in individuals with high levels of inflammatory markers at baseline (127). For example, five months of exercise training in a large cohort (n=652) of sedentary men and women divided into low, moderate, or high levels of CRP at baseline showed that only the high CRP group experienced a significant reduction in CRP levels(127). The extent to which inflammatory markers diminish post exercise appears to be around 25 to 35% (121, 125, 127). In all, the evidence available suggests that regular exercise of sufficient intensity has anti-inflammatory effects (128).

Reference

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118. Petersen AM and Pedersen BK. The anti-inflammatory effect of exercise. J Appl Physiol 2005; 98: 1154-62.

119. Abramson JL and Vaccarino V. Relationship between physical activity and inflammation among apparently healthy middle-aged and older US adults. Arch Intern Med 2002; 162: 1286-92.

120. Geffken DF, Cushman M, Burke GL, et al. Association between physical activity and markers of inflammation in a healthy elderly population. Am J Epidemiol 2001; 153: 242-50.

121. Mattusch F, Dufaux B, Heine O, et al. Reduction of the plasma concentration of C-reactive protein following nine months of endurance training. Int J Sports Med 2000; 21: 21-4.

122. Wannamethee SG, Lowe GD, Whincup PH, et al. Physical activity and hemostatic and inflammatory variables in elderly men. Circulation 2002; 105: 1785-90.

123. King DE, Carek P, Mainous AG, 3rd, et al. Inflammatory markers and exercise: differences related to exercise type. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2003; 35: 575-81.

124. Ford ES. Does exercise reduce inflammation? Physical activity and C-reactive protein among U.S. adults. Epidemiology 2002; 13: 561-8.

125. Tisi PV, Hulse M, Chulakadabba A, et al. Exercise training for intermittent claudication: does it adversely affect biochemical markers of the exercise-induced inflammatory response? Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg 1997; 14: 344-50.

126. Smith JK, Dykes R, Douglas JE, et al. Long-term exercise and atherogenic activity of blood mononuclear cells in persons at risk of developing ischemic heart disease. JAMA 1999; 281: 1722-7.

127. Lakka TA, Lakka HM, Rankinen T, et al. Effect of exercise training on plasma levels of C-reactive protein in healthy adults: the HERITAGE Family Study. Eur Heart J 2005; 26: 2018-25.

128. Das UN. Anti-inflammatory nature of exercise. Nutrition 2004; 20: 323-6.

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