the modifying impact of long-term endurance training on inflammatory cytokine il-1b level and vo2max in premenopausal women with abdominal obesity

Background: a growing body of literature suggests that obesity is associated with low-grade inflammation and is regarded as a major risk factor for chronic diseases, such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome. objectives: the purpose of this study was to examine whether an endurance training program can affect the inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-1β (il-1β), in sedentary obese women. methods: thirty sedentary obese women (30 ≤ bmi ≤ 36), aged 30 - 40 years, were selected through convenience and purposive sampling. they were then divided into exercise (n, 15) and control (n, 30) groups, based on random sampling using a table of random numbers. the exercise group received 3 months of supervised endurance training. blood samples were obtained before and at the end of the program for measuring serum il-1β level in the groups. pre- and posttraining anthropometric indices, as well as maximal oxygen consumption (vo2max ) as an index of cardiovascular fitness, were also measured in the groups. data were compared using independent paired t test. results: the endurance training program resulted in a significant decline in body weight, abdominal obesity, and other anthropometric indices (p < 0.001). the exercise group demonstrated a significant reduction in serum il-1β level after 3 months of endurance training, compared with the baseline (2.44 ± 0.57 vs. 1.87 ± 0.29 pg/ml; p = 0.001). vo2max improved significantly after the training program in comparison to the baseline (34.51 ± 5.44 vs. 39.53 ± 7.63 ml/kg/min; p = 0.001). there were no significant changes in these variables in the control group (p > 0.05). conclusions: the increased level of serum il-1β, as an inflammatory cytokine, could be attributed to weight loss or cardiovascular fitness due to endurance training in obese women.