Changes of Inflammatory Cytokines after 4-week and 8-week Aerobic Exercise in Hispanic Obese Females

Abstract

Recent studies have insuffcient data to support the effects of exercise on inflammatory cytokines independent from weight loss. Thus, a reduction in fat mass is required to induce decreases in markers of pro-inflammatory cytokines. PURPOSE: Changes in inflammatory cytokines following 4-weeks and 8-weeks of aerobic exercise were measured in this study to find if exercise is an independent determinant on changes in inflammatory cytokines in middle-aged Hispanic obese females. Methods: 35 obese females were randomly assigned to either exercise (EX, N=16) or control (CON, N=19) group. The exercise group performed moderate intensity aerobic exercise on the treadmill for 60 minutes at 55% of VO2max for 8 weeks (3 days/week). Body composition measurement with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and blood collection were conducted before and after the 4th week and 8th week of the intervention (PRE, 4W, and 8W). Blood samples were used to measure levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP), and adiponectin. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Following 8 weeks of aerobic exercise intervention, participants had significantly reduced body mass index (34.2±4.6 mean±SD → 33.7±4.7, P=.035), %body fat (42.1±5.2% → 41.4±5.3, P=.014) and TNF-α (4.57±.24pg/mL mean±SE → 4.14±.31, P=.019) as compared to PRE. EX also observed a decrease in TNF-α (4.57±.24 → 4.29±.28, P=.033) when changes in body weight and %body fat were not observed after 4 weeks of aerobic exercise. CRP and adiponectin were unaltered in EX. CON showed no significant changes in any variables at 4W and 8W. CONCLUSION: It is suggested reductions in inflammatory cytokines are associated with fat loss; however, significant change in TNF- α at 4W when no change in %body fat is observed this indicates that moderate aerobic exercises may reduce level of inflammation independent from fat loss. This change is further improved when fat loss occurs at 8W. Therefore, it is plausible that moderate aerobic exercises may independently reduce risks of obesity-associated disorders in middle-aged Hispanic obese females. Results of this study suggest that longer periods of exercise training with fat loss may be required to induce significant changes in CRP and adiponectin in middle-aged obese females. TAMIU University Research Grant. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.