Submitted on January 30, 2008
Accepted on May 8, 2008
Acute moderate intensity exercise in middle-aged men has neither an anti- nor pro-inflammatory effect
Daniella Markovitch1, Rex M Tyrrell2, and Dylan Thompson3*
1 Sport and Exercise Science, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
2 Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
3 University of Bath, United States
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: d.thompson{at}bath.ac.uk.
Strenuous exercise induces an initial pro- and subsequent anti-inflammatory response and it has been suggested that this may be one of the ways that regular exercise reduces chronic inflammation and therefore the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, public health recommendations emphasise moderate intensity physical activity and it is important to understand whether moderate intensity exercise has a similar anti-inflammatory effect. Twelve sedentary male volunteers (age 54 ± 4 y) completed twomain trials, moderate intensity exercise and rest (30 min at 50% V.O2max vs. sitting). There were no significant changes in circulating neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes or serum Interleukin-6, Interleukin-10 and C-reactive protein concentration over the seven days following exercise. Similarly, lymphocyte adhesion to cultured endothelial cells and Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression in lymphocytes and monocytes was not affected by walking at any time point. These results suggest that the long-term anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic effects of regular moderate-intensity physical activity must be explained by something other than a profound net anti-inflammatory response to each exercise bout since a single bout of walking did not lead to a change in various markers of inflammation or lymphocyte adherence to cultured endothelial cells
