title: Evidence for an exercise induced increase of TNF-α and IL-6 in marathon runners.
abstract: Regular physical activity of moderate intensity improves cardiovascular risk factors including low-grade inflammation. However, acute vigorous exercise such as marathon running results in marked increases of circulating pro-inflammatory markers. Up to now, the origin of this pro-inflammatory boost is still debated equivocally. We analyzed the change of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and leptin from pre- to immediately post-race in 15 male runners (age 43 ± 10.9 years and body mass index 24.5 ± 2.7 kg/m(2) ) both on the protein level in the plasma and on the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) level in blood mononuclear cells (BMNC). We observed a significant increase of IL-6 (prerace 2.08 ± 0.10 ng/L and postrace 40.14 ± 24.85 ng/L, P < 0.001) and TNF-α (prerace 8.14 ± 1.38 ng/L and postrace 12.40 ± 3.15 ng/L, P < 0.001) and a decrease of leptin (prerace 1.64 ± 2.64 μg/L and postrace 0.80 ± 1.70 μg/L, P = 0.04) serum levels after the marathon race. Furthermore, TNF-α, IL-6, and leptin were expressed (mRNA level) in BMNC. However no significant differences in mRNA levels were seen before and after the run in these cells. We found an up-regulation of TNF-α and IL-6 in the plasma during vigorous exercise. This increase is not attributable to BMNC. We assume a local production in, or release from, exercised tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Rheumatology, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bernecker
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scherr
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schinner
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Scherbaum
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Halle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D020738:Leptin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha