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Exhaustive exercise causes an anti-inflammatory effect in skeletal muscle and a pro-inflammatory effect in adipose tissue in rats

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Abstract

It is well known that exhaustive exercise increases serum and skeletal muscle IL-6 concentrations. However, the effect of exhaustive exercise on the concentrations of other cytokines in the muscle and in the adipose tissue is controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of exhaustive exercise on mRNA and protein expression of IL-10, TNF-α and IL-6 in different types of skeletal muscle (EDL, soleus) and in two different depots of white adipose tissue (mesenteric–MEAT and retroperitoneal–RPAT). Rats were killed by decapitation immediately (E0 group, n = 6), 2 (E2 group, n = 6) and 6 (E6 group, n = 6) hours after the exhaustion protocol, which consisted of running on a treadmill (approximately 70% VO2max for 50 min and then subsequently at an elevated rate that increased at 1 m/min every minute, until exhaustion). The control group (C group, n = 6) was not subjected to exercise. Cytokine protein expression increased in EDL, soleus, MEAT and RPAT from all exercised groups, as detected by ELISA. EDL IL-10 and TNF-α expression was higher than that of the soleus. The IL-10/TNF-α ratio was increased in the skeletal muscle, especially in EDL, but it was found to be decreased in the adipose tissue. These results show that exhaustive exercise presents a different effect depending on the tissue which is analysed: in the muscle, it induces an anti-inflammatory effect, especially in type 2 fibres, while the pro-inflammatory effect prevails in adipose tissue, possibly contributing to increased lipolysis to provide energy for the exercising muscle.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Emilia Ribeiro for her technical assistance. This work was supported by Grant No. 04/11588-0 and 05/01445-0 from the FAPESP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology of Nutrition, Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Botucatu 862, 2º andar, São Paulo, SP, CEP 04023-060, Brazil

    José C. Rosa Neto, Fábio S. Lira, Lila M. Oyama & Cláudia M. Oller do Nascimento

  2. Molecular Cell Biology Study Group, Department of Cell Biology and Development, Institute of Biomedical Sciences I, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Fábio S. Lira, Alex S. Yamashita, Miguel L. Batista Jr & Marília Seelaender

  3. School of Physical Education and Sports, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Nelo E. Zanchi

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  1. José C. Rosa Neto
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Correspondence to Cláudia M. Oller do Nascimento.

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Rosa Neto, J.C., Lira, F.S., Oyama, L.M. et al. Exhaustive exercise causes an anti-inflammatory effect in skeletal muscle and a pro-inflammatory effect in adipose tissue in rats. Eur J Appl Physiol 106, 697–704 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-009-1070-1

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