Effect of moderate aerobic cycling on some systemic inflammatory markers in healthy active collegiate men

Ebrahim Akhtari Shojaei¹, Adalat Farajov², Afshar Jafari^3
1Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Research Centre, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; ²Institute of Physiology, Baku National Academy of Sciences, Baku, Azerbaijan; ³Department of Sports Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Background: Based on the inconsistency of some previous results related to moderate exercise effects on systemic inflammatory responses, this study was conducted to determine the effects of 45 minutes of moderate aerobic cycling on inflammatory markers, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), C-reactive protein (CRP), and leucocyte counts in young active men.
Methods: Ten healthy, active collegiate men (aged 21.03 ± 1.2 years, body fat 12.04 ± 2.72% and VO₂max 59.6 ± 2.4 mL/kg/min) in a quasiexperimental pre/post design, participated in an acute, moderate cycling protocol at an intensity of 50% VO₂max for 45 minutes. The inflammatory markers (serum IL-6, IL-10, CRP, and peripheral blood leucocyte counts), along with cortisol and epinephrine, were examined before and after the protocol. Data were expressed as mean (± SD) and analyzed by paired t-test using SPSS15 at α ≤ 0.05.
Results: The results showed that serum IL-6, IL-10, CRP, total leukocyte counts, and stress hormones (epinephrine and cortisol) were significantly increased following 45 minutes of moderate cycling in active collegiate men (P < 0.001). However, all pre- and post-measurements were in the population range.
Conclusion: Based on the present results, it can be concluded that moderate cycling is not only sufficient to induce systemic inflammation in active collegiate men, but also appears to be safe from an immunological point of view.

Keywords: moderate cycling, pro- anti-inflammatory cytokines, C-reactive protein