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The effect of prolonged whole-body cryostimulation treatment with different amounts of sessions on chosen pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels in healthy men
Abstract
Cryotherapy is used in the early treatment of acute injuries (sprains, strains, fractures) yet only a few papers discuss the possible influence of whole-body cryostimulation on inflammation mechanisms or immunology. It is postulated that cold exposure can have an immunostimulating effect related to enhanced noradrenaline response and can be connected with paracrine effects. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of different sequences of whole-body cryostimulations on the level of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in healthy individuals. The research involved 45 healthy men divided into three groups. The groups were subjected to 5, 10 or 20, 3-minute long whole-body cryostimulations each day at -130°C. Blood was collected for analysis before the stimulations, after completion of the whole series, and 2 weeks after completion of the series, for the examination of any long-term effect. The analysis of results showed that in response to cryostimulation, the level of ani-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-10 increased while Il-1α cytokine level decreased. It seems that the most advantageous sequence was the series of 20 cryostimulations due to the longest lasting effects of stimulation after the completion of the whole series of treatments.
... However, the rationale for prescribing WBC in post-COVID symptoms appears in line with the existing evidence of clinical and functional benefits following WBC documented in other musculoskeletal, neurological, and psychiatric conditions. Pain, fatigue, and alleviation of inflammatory symptoms after WBC, as also shown in this report, appear to be related to reduced nerve conduction and acetylcholine formation and lower levels of oxidative stress and inflammation [29], but a full understanding of the underlying mechanisms is yet to be fully disclosed. Importantly, the benefits of WBC seem to appear rapidly (1 week). ...
... WBC seems to trigger rapid antiinflammatory actions, which could explain our encouraging results and support its use as a booster for rehabilitation programs, as the improvement in physical performance in each case described was noteworthy. In support of this suggestion, findings by Lubkowska and collaborators [29] highlighted that WBC leads to a rapid decrease in the concentration of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin 1a (IL-1a), and a rapid increase in the anti-inflammatory cytokines interleukin 10 (IL-10). In addition, the use of cryostimulation prior to training or competition has been shown to exert beneficial effects through a multifactorial hypothesis, such as hormonal changes, peripheral vasoconstriction with improved muscle oxygenation, reduced fatigue and pain, an anti-inflammatory effect, and subsequent psychological well-being [30]. ...
Given the severity and prevalence of post-COVID-19 symptoms in the general population, the identification of boosters for rehabilitation programs appears to be of paramount importance. The purpose of this case series is to provide some preliminary evidence about the role of whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) as an effective adjuvant for the recovery of patients with the post-COVID-19 condition (PCC). We recruited seven patients with previously confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptoms of PCC of different severities for a comprehensive rehabilitation program, including WBC. The main symptoms were dyspnea, chronic and muscular fatigue, chronic pain, and poor sleep quality. Moreover, some patients presented high levels of hematological markers of inflammation. Because we provided a range of interventions, including nutritional and psychological support along with physical exercise and physiotherapy, we could not determine to what extent WBC may per se have accounted for the clinical and functional improvements. However, for all reported cases, it was observed that the introduction of WBC sessions represented a turning point in the patient’s subjective and objective improvements related to health and functioning.
... One of the most widely held hypotheses regarding a compensatory mechanism, downregulation of blood pressure [50], even overnight [51], may result in reduced feelings of fatigue, improved mood, and reduced mental health deterioration with possible positive consequences on depressive states, and improved sleep quality [43]. Recent literature has shown that WBC is immunostimulating and yields an anti-inflammatory response, with a decrease of the pro-inflammatory cytokines and increases of anti-inflammatory mediators [52][53][54][55][56][57]. It also appears to improve the effect on redox balance in a session/treatment number-, age-, and fitness-dependent manner [58], probably through the decrease in the total oxidant production which, consequently, induces antioxidant activity [56,[58][59][60][61][62][63]. ...
... Therefore, the likelihood that FM may have an imbalance in cytokine production and secretion has been confirmed. Ucelyer et al. showed that FM patients have higher serum levels of IL-1ra, IL-6, and IL-8, and higher plasma levels of IL-8, compared to controls [78], while two studies of Lubkowska et al. showed how WBC affects the inflammatory status by inducing an imbalance towards the anti-inflammatory side [55,56]. Consecutive sessions of cryotherapy increased levels of IL-6, which can act both as a pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine, and IL-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, and lowered the IL-1α levels. ...
Currently, all available therapies for the control and management of fibromyalgia (FM) are mostly focused on relieving patients’ symptoms and improving their quality of life. The purpose of this review is to provide an up-to-date overview of the evidence supporting the beneficial effects of whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) in patients with FM and evidence-based guidance on the possible adjuvant use of WBC in the treatment of FM. We searched the most recent literature by retrieving 10 eligible studies, 4 of which were abstracts only, from a total of 263 records. Thermal stress caused by cryostimulation induces an analgesic effect, improving pain, redox balance, and inflammatory symptoms in an exercise-mimicking fashion. In addition, it reduces the feeling of fatigue, improves mood, and reduces mental health deterioration with positive consequences on depressive states and improved sleep quality. Although the studies included in this review are not of sufficient quality and quantity to draw definitive conclusions about the effectiveness of WBC in FM, initial evidence indicates WBC as a promising add-on option in the multidisciplinary treatment of FM, due to its rapid action and high patients’ compliance. The application of WBC protocols has the potential to expand therapeutic options for the treatment of FM and related disorders; however, larger, high-quality primary studies are still needed.
... By contrast, increased levels of IL-6 can originate from contracting muscle and act as an anti-inflammatory mediator (Lombardi et al., 2016). In menopausal women with obesity and metabolic syndrome, 10 and 20 sessions of WBC increased IL-6 concentrations (Więcek et al., 2020), as seen in professional tennis players exposed to 10 WBC sessions, twice a day for 5 days in combination with moderate-intense physical training (Ziemann et al., 2012), and two separate groups of clinically healthy untrained men in which the same WBC protocol significantly increased IL-6 above baseline (Lubkowska et al., 2010(Lubkowska et al., , 2011. Lubkowska et al. reported that in young healthy men, the concentration of IL-6 in the blood is above baseline after the 1st and the 10th exposure to WBC (Lubkowska et al., 2011). ...
... In menopausal women with obesity and metabolic syndrome, 10 and 20 sessions of WBC increased IL-6 concentrations (Więcek et al., 2020), as seen in professional tennis players exposed to 10 WBC sessions, twice a day for 5 days in combination with moderate-intense physical training (Ziemann et al., 2012), and two separate groups of clinically healthy untrained men in which the same WBC protocol significantly increased IL-6 above baseline (Lubkowska et al., 2010(Lubkowska et al., , 2011. Lubkowska et al. reported that in young healthy men, the concentration of IL-6 in the blood is above baseline after the 1st and the 10th exposure to WBC (Lubkowska et al., 2011). Nevertheless, in two different studies on men with obesity, 10 sessions of WBC did not significantly alter IL-6 concentrations (Dulian et al., 2015;Ziemann et al., 2013a), while its decrease after 10 sessions was reported only in LCF subjects with obesity and not in the HCF group with obesity (Ziemann et al., 2013a). ...
Currently available treatments for the management of obesity struggle to provide clinically significant weight loss and reduction of the chronic low-grade inflammatory state in order to reduce obesity-related complications. This scoping review aims to provide an up-to-date picture of the therapeutic effects of Whole-Body Cryostimulation (WBC) in patients with obesity and evidence-based indications for its complementary use in the treatment of obesity. We searched the literature until the end of August 2021, retrieving 8 eligible studies out of 856, all evaluated for their methodological quality using the Downs and Black checklist. Overall, the limited data presented in this review article seem to support the efficacy of WBC as an adjuvant treatment in obesity. The cryogenic stimulus has important anti-inflammatory/antioxidant effects and its effectiveness is directly related to the individual percentage of fat mass and initial fitness capacity, mimicking an exercise-induced effect. Based on the limited results gathered, WBC emerges as a promising adjuvant therapy to reduce systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, abdominal obesity, and body mass. However, the data presented in this review article fail to reach definitive conclusions with regards to the efficacy of WBC in the treatment of obesity. Application of WBC protocols yields the potential to widen the therapeutic armor for the treatment of obesity and obesity-related disorders but larger, high-quality studies are still needed.
... Therefore, albumin is a negative acute-phase protein [49,50]. Therefore, the increased albumin levels after WBC treatments in our study may be related to decreased inflammation and oxidative stress, which was also observed in this study and reported in the previous ones [17,[20][21][22][51][52][53][54]. Furthermore, albumin is the main plasma protein rich in sulfhydryl groups and provides nonenzymatic antioxidant defense outside the cells. ...
The aim of the study was to assess the effect of whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) with subsequent exercise training (WBC group) or exercise-only training (ET group) on endothelium inflammation parameters in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods: The WBC procedure lasted 3 min, and exercise training consisted of one 60 min session a day, which was the same in each group. The ET group was compared to the WBC group. Endothelium (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), soluble P-Selectin, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), ne-opterin), and oxidative stress (lipid hydroperoxide (LHP), protein sulfhydryl (PSH), lipofuscin, paraoxonase-1(PON-1), and albumin) parameters were estimated 1 day before and 1 day after the completion of the study. Results: A significant decrease in hsCRP, sP-Selectin, sVCAM-1, and neopterin concentrations was observed in the WBC group after the treatment. After the treat-ment, in both groups, LHP and lipofuscin levels and PON-1 activity decreased significantly. The observed drop in these parameters was higher in the WBC group compared to the ET group. Albumin concentration increased in the WBC group after treatment. Conclusion: Procedures of WBC have a beneficial effect on endothelium parameters in AS patients; therefore, this method can be applied in the treatment of this group of patients.
... Repeated exposure to WBC seems to reduce the production of pro-inflammatory and oxidative markers, whereas the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative compounds are produced in larger quantities [46,47]. For example, WBC has been shown to influence cytokine levels, specifically increasing IL-6 and IL-10 while decreasing IL-1 [48,49]. All of these mechanisms may account for the reported pain-relieving properties of WBC. ...
Research Objectives
to determine whether the addition of Whole-Body Cryostimulation (WBC) to a rehabilitation program is able to induce a greater reduction of pain, depressive symptoms, disease impact and improvement in function and sleep quality in female patients with fibromyalgia (FM) as compared to matched controls undergoing only a rehabilitation program.
Design
Randomized controlled trial.
Setting
Participants were recruited consecutively from the in-patients of the Rehabilitation Unit in our hospital.
Participants
We selected 45 patients with: i) age between 18 and 65 years; ii) FM diagnosed by a rheumatologist according to American College of Rheumatology criteria; iii) FM diagnosed for more than one year. 25 patients were randomly allocated to the WBC group and 20 patients to the control group.
Interventions
Daily 45-min physiotherapy and 45-min standard supervised adapted physical activity sessions for an average length of hospital stay of 26 days. Patients allocated to the WBC group received additional ten 2-minute WBC sessions at a temperature of -110°.
Main Outcome Measures
Pain severity (VAS 0-10); Disease impact (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire); Depressive symptomatology(BDI-II25); Sleep quality (VAS 0-10); 6-min walking test (meters) were measured before (T0) and after the completion of the rehabilitation program (T1).
Results
No significant differences between groups at T0 in terms of age, BMI, pain duration, number of pain medications, and scores on questionnaires were observed. Both groups reported positive changes in all outcomes at T1. The between-group comparison showed a statistically larger magnitude of changes in the WBC group at T1, specifically, in pain severity, disease impact, sleep quality, and depressive symptoms. Statistically significant improvements in 6MWT were observed at T1 in both groups. The between-group comparison at T1 did not show significant differences, but longer distances walked were evident in the WBC group.
Conclusions
Our preliminary results suggest that WBC could represent an effective add-on treatment for improving pain, disease impact, sleep quality, and depressive symptoms in FM patients. Larger studies are needed to confirm our results.
Author(s) Disclosures
Nothing to disclose.
... Repeated exposure to WBC seems to reduce the production of pro-inflammatory and oxidative markers, whereas the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative compounds are produced in larger quantities [46,47]. For example, WBC has been shown to influence cytokine levels, specifically increasing IL-6 and IL-10 while decreasing IL-1 [48,49]. All of these mechanisms may account for the reported pain-relieving properties of WBC. ...
Pain severity, depression, and sleep disturbances are key targets for FM rehabilitation. Recent evidence suggests that whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) might be an effective add-on treatment in the management of FM. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an add-on WBC intervention to a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program on pain intensity, depressive symptoms, disease impact, sleep quality, and performance-based physical functioning in a sample of FM patients with obesity. We performed a randomized controlled trial with 43 patients with FM and obesity undergoing a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program with and without the addition of ten 2-min WBC sessions at −110 °C over two weeks. According to our results, the implementation of ten sessions of WBC over two weeks produced additional benefits. Indeed, both groups reported positive changes after the rehabilitation; however, the group that underwent WBC intervention had greater improvements in the severity of pain, depressive symptoms, disease impact, and quality of sleep. On the contrary, with respect to performance-based physical functioning, we found no significant between-group differences. Our findings suggest that WBC could be a promising add-on treatment to improve key aspects of FM, such as pain, depressive symptoms, disease impact and poor sleep quality.
... Important variables, although hardly definable to the field, that can be the cause for the limited "biochemical evidence" in support of cryostimulation effectiveness, may be represented by the frequency and length of the treatment, the timing of application within the timing practice (e.g., training sessions), as well as subjective features that may alter the responsivity. For this reason, Lubkowska et al. (2011) demonstrated that the number of sessions importantly impacted the kinetics of secretion of biochemical markers of inflammation. Indeed, in 45 healthy men, five consecutive sessions of WBC increased IL-10 by 30% while 10 sessions determined a 17% decrease of IL-1α, 10% increase of IL-6, and 14% increase of IL-10. ...
Physical activity has a positive effect on human health and well-being, but intense exercise can cause adverse changes in the organism, leading to the development of oxidative stress and inflammation. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of short-term cold water immersion (CWI) and a sauna bath as methods of postexercise regeneration on the indicators of inflammation and oxidative damage in the blood of healthy recreational athletes. Forty-five male volunteers divided into two groups: ‘winter swimmers’ who regularly use winter baths (n = 22, average age 43.2 ± 5.9 years) and ‘novices’ who had not used winter baths regularly before (n = 23, mean age 25 ± 4.8 years) participated in the study. The research was divided into two experiments, differing in the method of postexercise regeneration used, CWI (Experiment I) and a sauna bath (Experiment II). During Experiment I, the volunteers were subjected to a 30-min aerobic exercise, combined with a 20-min rest at room temperature (RT-REST) or a 20-min rest at room temperature with an initial 3-min 8 °C water bath (CWI-REST). During the Experiment II, the volunteers were subjected to the same aerobic exercise, followed by a RT-REST or a sauna bath (SAUNA-REST). The blood samples were taken before physical exercise (control), immediately after exercise and 20 min after completion of regeneration. The concentrations of selected indicators of inflammation, including interleukin 1β (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), interleukin 8 (IL-8), interleukin 10 (IL-10), transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), as well as the activity of indicators of oxidative damage: α1-antitrypsin (AAT) and lysosomal enzymes, including arylsulfatase A (ASA), acid phosphatase (AcP) and cathepsin D (CTS D), were determined. CWI seems to be a more effective post-exercise regeneration method to reduce the inflammatory response compared to a sauna bath. A single sauna bath is associated with the risk of proteolytic tissue damage, but disturbances of cellular homeostasis are less pronounced in people who regularly use cold water baths than in those who are not adapted to thermal stress.
Cryotherapy which is also referred to as cryosurgery or cryoablation refers to utilization of very cold temperatures to freeze various cells depending upon the pathology. Cryotherapy has tended to be utilized as treatment of curative intent for localized low-risk and intermediate risk carcinomas of the prostate gland. Cryotherapy has also been utilized for the treatment of post-cryotherapy failure prostate cancers with residual tumour or locally recurrent tumour that is confined to the prostate gland. Cryotherapy has also been utilized for the treatment of locally recurrent prostate cancers or localized prostate cancers that have remained following failure of radiotherapy to the prostate cancer of curative intent or radical prostatectomy of prostate for prostate at times. Because cryotherapy of prostate cancer is a minimally invasive treatment procedure, it can be utilized in the treatment of patients who have localized prostate cancer whose tumours could be treated by means of radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy (external beam radiotherapy or brachytherapy) who are considered not to be medically fit to undergo these procedures because of their co-morbidities. The most common treatment options for the management of localized adenocarcinomas of the prostate gland tend to involve radical prostatectomy or radical radiotherapy. Nevertheless, other treatment options for localized prostate cancer that have been undertaken sporadically include: Radiofrequency ablation of the prostate cancer, High intensity focussed ultrasound scan treatment of prostate cancer, irreversible electroporation of prostate cancer. Cryotherapy of prostate cancer as treatment of curative intent has tended to be published sporadically based upon case reports or case series and there has not been reports of an extensive clinical-trials on cryotherapy of localized adenocarcinoma of the prostate. Furthermore, there is no consensus opinion validated definition of biochemical failure pursuant to treatment of localized prostate cancer by cryotherapy. Nevertheless, one article has reported a prospective study with the undertaking of standardized follow-up protocol in which it a series of 108 patients who were diagnosed as having localized adenocarcinoma of prostate that was staged T1c to T2c were treated by primary cryoablation of curative intent and in which the median follow-up was 61 months. With regard to the results of this study, the criteria of biochemical recurrence had been unified based upon the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO). The end points of the study included: biochemical progression-free survival (BPFS), cancer-specific survival, as well as overall survival. The complication rates were reported in the study. With regard to the results the biochemical progression-free survival rates were for low-, medium-, and high-risk prostate cancer patients 96.4%, 91.2%, and 62.2%, respectively. The Cancer-specific survival was 98.1%. The overall survival reached 94.4%. The complications that were encountered included incontinence in 5.6% of the patients, urinary tract obstruction in 1.9% of the patients, urethral sloughing in 5.6% of the patients, haematuria in 1.9% of the patients, perineal pain in 11.1% of the patients, and prostatorectal fistula in 0.9% of the patients. Erectile disfunction was found in 98.1% of the patients. The authors concluded that cryotherapy is an effective and minimally invasive treatment for primary carcinomas of the prostate gland in well-selected cases, and the treatment procedure is associated with low surgical risk and good results in terms of biochemical progression-free survival (BPFS), cancer-specific survival, and overall survival. Even though the results of this study had illustrated that the oncology outcome of high-risk prostate cancer was lower than the outcome of low-risk and intermediate-risk prostate cancer more than 60% of patients who had high-risk prostate cancer had biochemical progression-free survival after a median follow-up of 61 months. At the moment cryotherapy is being utilized as treatment of curative option for some low-risk and intermediate (medium) -risk prostate cancer. Cryotherapy of the primary prostate cancer has been utilized for the palliative treatment of some advanced / metastatic prostate cancer which had temporarily ameliorated the general health of few reported patients. In the scenario of persistence of localized low-risk or intermediate- (medium-) risk localized prostate cancer that have persisted following cryotherapy of the prostate cancer, the cancer can be treated by means of either further cryotherapy, radical prostatectomy, radical radiotherapy, HIFU treatment, Irreversible electroporation, and radiofrequency ablation of prostate gland. The complications of erectile / sexual dysfunction, and urinary incontinence / voiding dysfunction following cryotherapy for prostate cancer tends to be more transient in comparison with following radical prostatectomy or radical radiotherapy. It may be that cryotherapy of localized prostate cancer of low-risk, and medium-risk patients may have a slightly inferior long-term oncology outcome in comparison with radical prostatectomy, radical radiotherapy and other minimally invasive treatment options of curative intent but this needs to be further investigated through a large global multicentre treatment comparative study of various treatment options with a long-term follow-up. Nevertheless, cryotherapy of prostate cancer does represent a minimally invasive alternative treatment for localized prostate cancer as treatment of curative intent and it can also be used to treat persistent/locally recurrent prostate cancer following radical radiotherapy and radical prostatectomy. Cryotherapy as treatment option is a safe and effective treatment option for localized low-risk and medium-risk prostate cancer.
While the recent literature on Whole-Body Cryotherapy pointed to its beneficial systemic effects on inflammatory markers in rheumatoid arthritis, it was not clear whether it could also have more localized effects, with the attainment of analgesic thresholds on hands that are usually protected during protocols. Twenty-five young, healthy subjects (12 males aged 25.1 ± 3.5 years and 13 females aged 23.5 ± 2.6 years) agreed to participate in this study. Two study groups were defined: (1) a control group with a hand fully gloved and (2) an experimental group with a partially ungloved hand during the WBC session. In both groups, the achievement of analgesic thresholds of skin temperature was established through thermal imaging, focused on the measurement of temperatures at the different joint locations. Using a new protocol with direct exposure of the hands during the last 40 s of a standard WBC session of 3 min at −110 °C made it possible to respect this risk/benefit balance. Infrared thermography analyses revealed that for all regions of interest (except MCP and IP, CMP for thumb), there was a clinically meaningful reduction of skin temperature in participants from the experimental group. The thermal analysis suggests that a protocol of Whole-Body Cryotherapy at −110 °C where hands must be ungloved during 40 s could be a useful tool for the management of hand rheumatoid arthritis by achieving local antalgic thresholds.
Background. Whole-body cryotheraphy has been used by sports professionals as a training adjunct for many years. As bibliographic data presenting empirical research concerning this subject are limited, we carried out a study to evaluate the effect of whole-body cryotherapy on selected blood chemistry markers, including interieukin-1β (IL-1β), in professional athletes. Material and methods. The study enrolled 11 Polish men's national field hockey team members aged 25.8 ± 2.9 years (min. 21, max 31 yrs). Whole-body cryotherapy was administered twice a day (at temperatures from -120°C to -130°C) for 2.5-3 minutes, for a total of 18 procedures. In addition, all participants attended a general fitness training session in a gymnasium after each cryotherapy procedure. Blood chemistry determinations (erythrocyte sedimentation rate - ESR, leukocyte count - WBC, erythrocyte count - RBC, platelets, haemoglobin - HGB, haematocrit - HCT, MCV, MCH, MCHC, percentage of lymphocytes, monocytes and neutrophils, and interieukin-1β levels) were performed at baseline and on completion of the series of 18 cryotherapy procedures as well as one week later. Results and Conclusions. Whole-body cryotherapy significantly decreased the RBC, HGB and HCT parameters in peripheral blood. The decrease was, however, not permanent and after one week the parameters returned to baseline values (RBC, HCT) or were increased in comparison to baseline values (HGB). Whole-body cryotherapy was not found to have an immunomodulatory effect in the study group (WBC, percentage of lymphocytes, monocytes or neutrophils, IL-1β levels), except for its effect on the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), which did not change immediately after the treatment but was significantly lower one week later.
1.We have examined the prooxidative–antioxidative reaction to extremely low temperatures (−130 °C) during a one-time cryostimulation in 15 young, clinically healthy individuals.2.The total lipid peroxides as the total oxidative status (TOS) and the total antioxidative status (TAS) were measured in blood plasma collected in the morning of the day of cryostimulation, 30 min after the cryostimulation, and on the following morning.3.The level of stress expressed by total oxidative status in plasma, resulting from exposure to extremely low temperatures, was statistically significantly lowered 30 min after leaving the cryochamber than prior to the exposure. The next day, the TOS level still remained lower than the initial values. The TAS level decreased after leaving the cryochamber and remained elevated the following day.
Whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) covers a wide range of therapeutic applications and consists of briefly exposing the body to extremely cold air. In sports medicine, WBC is used to improve recovery from muscle injury; however, empirical studies on its application to this area are lacking. To fill this gap, we compared changes in immunological parameters (C3, IgA, IgM, IgG, C-reactive protein, PGE2), cytokines (IL-2, IL-8, IL-10), adhesion molecules (sICAM-1), and muscle enzymes (creatine kinase [CK], lactate dehydrogenase [LAD]) before and after WBC in 10 top-level Italian National team rugby players. The subjects underwent five sessions on alternate days once daily for 1 week. During the study period, the training workload was the same as that of the previous weeks. Compared to baseline values, immunological parameters remained unchanged, while CK and LAD levels significantly decreased after treatment. No alterations in immunological function were observed but there is a decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokine/chemokine and an increase in anti-inflammatory cytokine.As measured by changes in serum CK and LAD concentrations, and cytokines pathway, short-term cold air exposure was found to improve recovery from exercise-induced muscle injury and/or damage associated with intense physical training.
Cytokine secretion is a widely studied process, although little is known regarding the specific mechanisms that regulate cytokine release. Recent findings have shed light on some of the precise molecular pathways that regulate the packaging of newly synthesized cytokines from immune cells. These findings begin to elucidate pathways and mechanisms that underpin cytokine release in all cells. In this article, we review the highlights of some of these novel discoveries.
Regular exercise offers protection against all cause mortality and there is evidence from randomised intervention studies that physical training is effective as a treatment in patients with chronic heart diseases, type 2 diabetes and symptoms related to the metabolic syndrome. Chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer are associated with chronic low-grade systemic inflammation. It has been demonstrated that regular exercise induces anti-inflammatory effects with elevated levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines and suppression of TNF-alpha production. Thereby, exercise offers protection against TNF-alpha-induced insulin resistance. Otherwise, the exercise-induced production and release of IL-6 from myofibers may contribute to abrogate an atherogenic lipid profile, which is often associated with chronic diseases. This review focuses on the anti-inflammatory effects of exercise and how this may contribute to mediate the beneficial health effects of exercise training in patients with chronic diseases associated with chronic low-grade inflammation.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether human adipocytes from different depots of obese subjects produce interleukin-6 (IL-6) and whether IL-6 release is regulated by glucocorticoids. Fragments of omental and abdominal sc adipose tissue released immunodetectable IL-6 into the medium during acute incubations. Omental adipose tissue released 2-3 times more IL-6 than did sc adipose tissue. Isolated adipocytes prepared from these tissues also released IL-6 (omental > sc), but this accounted for only 10% of the total tissue release. Culture of adipose tissue fragments for 7 days with the glucocorticoid dexamethasone markedly suppressed IL-6 production. These data show for the first time that substantial quantities of IL-6 (up to 75 ng/mL) accumulate in the medium during incubations of both adipocytes and adipose tissue. Although little is known about the effects of IL-6 on adipose tissue, one action is a down-regulation of adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase. The regulated production of this multifunctional cytokine may modulate regional adipose tissue metabolism and may contribute to the recently reported correlation between serum IL-6 and the level of obesity.