Role of Exercise in Vascular Function and Inflammatory Profile in Age-Related Obesity

• Published in: Journal of Immunology Research Vol. 2018; no. 2018; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Lanza, Massimo, Moghetti, Paolo, Bacchi, Elisabetta, Rudi, Doriana, Zardini, Monica, Moschetta, Federica, Kirmizi, Emine, Venturelli, Massimo, Pedrinolla, Anna, Schena, Federico
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 01.01.2018; Hindawi; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Adiposity; Aged; Aging; Aging - immunology; Angioplasty, Balloon; Blood pressure; Blood Pressure Determination; Body mass; Body mass index; Body weight; C-Reactive Protein - metabolism; Cytokines - blood; Exercise; Female; Geriatrics; Health risks; Humans; IL-1β; Immunology; Inflammation; Inflammation - immunology; Inflammation Mediators - blood; Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist; Interleukin 1 receptors; Interleukin 10; Interleukin 6; Interleukin 8; Male; Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1; Obesity; Obesity - immunology; Obesity - physiopathology; Older people; Overweight; Physical activity; Physical training; Risk factors; Shear rate; Slopes; Studies; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Vascular Diseases - immunology; Vascular Diseases - physiopathology
• ISSN: 2314-8861; 2314-7156
• DOI: 10.1155/2018/7134235

In western countries, aging is often accompanied by obesity and age-related obesity is characterized by vascular dysfunction and a low-grade inflammatory profile. Exercise is a nonpharmacological strategy able to decrease the development and incidence of risk factors for several health-threatening diseases. Nonetheless, its long-term effect on vascular function and inflammation in age-related obesity is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of regular, supervised exercise on inflammatory profile and vascular function in age-related obesity. We also hypothesized that vascular function and inflammatory profile would have been correlated in overweight and obese individuals. Thirty normal weight (NW; 70 ± 5 years, 23.9 ± 2.6 BMI) and forty overweight and obese elderly (OW 69 ± 5 years, 30.1 ± 2.3 BMI) regularly taking part in a structured, supervised exercise program were enrolled in the study and evaluated for vascular function (flow-mediated dilation; FMD) and inflammatory profile (plasma CRP, IL-1β, IL-1ra, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, and MCP-1). Although no differences between groups were found concerning performance and the weekly amount of physical activity, the OW&OB group compared with the NW group demonstrated higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure (+10%, p=0.001; +9%, p=0.005, respectively); lower FMD% (−36%, p<0.001) and FMD/shear rate (−40%, p=0.001); and higher levels of CRP (+33%, p=0.005), IL-6 (+36%, p=0.048), MCP-1 (+17%, p=0.004), and TNF-α (+16%, p=0.031). No correlations between vascular function and inflammation were found in OW&OB or NW. Although exercising regularly, overweight and obese elderly exhibited poorer vascular function and higher proinflammatory markers compared with the leaner group. These results support the idea that exercise alone cannot counteract the negative effect of adiposity on vascular function and inflammatory profile in elderly individuals and these two processes are not necessarily related.