Impact of aerobic water running training on peripheral immune-endocrine markers of overweight-obese women

Abstract

Summary Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of water running training on immune-endocrine parameters evaluated in peripheral blood of overweight-obese women. Methods Eleven sedentary overweight-obese women (age 48.81 ± 12.87 years; body mass index 34.56 ± 4.08 kg/m 2 ) participated of 12-week of aerobic water running training in a heated swimming pool (70 minutes/session; 3×/week). In addition, nine women matched to age and body mass index were recruited to sedentary control group (age 49.9 ± 10.5 years; body mass index 33.05 ± 3.45 kg/m 2 ). Serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-17a (IL-17a), interferon-gamma (INF-γ), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), salivary cortisol, and the peripheral frequency of CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cells were evaluated before and after 12 weeks in exercised individuals and after 12 weeks in control subjects. In addition, anthropometric measurements (body mass, % of body fat and trunk circumferences) and functional capacity (VO 2Peak and time to exhaustion) were also evaluated. Results After 12 weeks of exercise training, serum adiponectin ( P = 0.030), IL-10 ( P = 0.01) and TNF-α ( P = 0.004), and CD8+ T cells frequency ( P = 0.03) increased significantly, while salivary cortisol reduced ( P = 0.003) in exercised women. After 12 weeks of training, exercised individuals had higher TNF-α levels ( P = 0.02), CD4+ ( P = 0.03) and CD8+ ( P = 0.04) T cells than control group. In addition, exercised women reduced the waist circumference ( P = 0.030) and improved the time to exhaustion ( P = 0.003). Conclusion In conclusion, deep water running was able to modulate immune-endocrine parameters in absence of significant improvements in body composition or VO 2Peak in overweight-obesity women. This training could be an interesting tool to control the obesity-related chronic low-grade inflammation.