| In view of available findings about exercise-induced inflammation, the present study was
conducted to investigate the effect of acute moderate cycling on systemic inflammatory responses
in healthy young active and inactive men. A quasi-experimental pre-post design was used to study
12 healthy young inactive men (aged 21.01 ± 1.1 years, body fat 16.7 ± 1.2% and VO2max 45.01 ±
5.83 ml/kg/min) and 12 young active men (aged 21.02 ± 1.2 years, body fat 12.04 ± 2.72% and
VO2max 59.63 ± 2.15 ml/kg/min). One week after preliminary measurements, all subjects
participated in an acute moderate cycling protocol (45 min with 50% VO2max). Blood samples
were drawn before and immediately after the exercise. Complete blood cell counts, fasting blood
sugar, serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), C-reactive protein (CRP) and plasma
stress hormones (cortisol and epinephrine) were determined. Data were analyzed by the
independent samples t-test and Pearson's correlation test at α < 0.05. Our results demonstrated
that total and differential circulating leukocyte counts and serum IL-6, IL-10, and CRP
concentrations, along with plasma epinephrine and cortisol levels, were increased immediately
after the acute moderate cycling protocol in both active and inactive men (P < 0.01). Furthermore,
the positive correlation between the post-exercise total leukocyte counts and serum IL-10 was
significant (P = 0.011). However, the correlations between the exercise-induced reduction of
fasting blood glucose and total leukocyte counts with serum CRP and IL-6 after exercise were not
significant (P > 0.05). The small exercise-induced elevation of inflammatory marker concen
trations suggests that the intensity or duration of the acute moderate cycling episode may not have
been sufficient to induce a substantial systemic inflammatory response in young active or inactive
men. Therefore, it can be concluded that the moderate exercise appears to be safe from an
immunological point of view in young active and inactive men, and moderate exercise cycling can
be recommended for both groups. Biomed. Int. 2011; 2: 64-71. ©2011 Biomedicine International,
Inc |