Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Cytokine Expression in a Breast Cancer Mouse Model

Background: regular physical activity lowers or prevents the risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, the development of hypertension, and death from these diseases through a reduction in inflammation. cytokines, such as interleukin (il)-6, il-18, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-α), and c-reactive protein (crp) are major markers representing the inflammatory process. this study aimed to investigate cytokine mrna expression levels of il-6, il-18, tnf-α, and crp in hepatocytes from breast cancer xenograft mice with or without moderate exercise. methods: each of the 5 mice at sp korea company, seoul, korea in 2015 were randomly divided into 3 groups: control (ctl), breast cancer (bc), and breast cancer exercise (bcex). the inflammatory markers were analyzed in 10-week-old female balb/c nude mice hepatocytes (n = 15; ctl = 5, bc = 5, bcex = 5). moderate intensity physical activity in mice was performed on a treadmill at an intensity of 18 m/min for 12 weeks, at 30 min for 5 days per week. results: il-6, il-18, tnf-α, and crp mrna expression levels of the bcex group were significantly decreased compared to those of the bc group (p < 0.05), with no difference to the ctl group. conclusion: there might be a reduced inflammatory process via a reduction in tnf-α, il-6, il-18, and crp expression in breast cancer mice that were subjected to moderate intensity exercise.