acute and recovery effects of aerobic exercise on serum interleukin-6 in adult male smokers

Background: smoking is known to be the main risk factor in systemic inflammation and insulin resistance. objectives: in the present study, the researchers aimed at comparing serum interleukin 6 as a pro-inflammatory cytokine between smokers and non-smokers and determining acute and recovery response of il-6 to a single bout aerobic exercise in 2 groups. methods: for this purpose, 15 adult male non-trained smokers (n = 15) and non-smokers (n = 15) matched for age (35.5 ± 5.8 years) and body mass index (bmi) (31.30 ± 4.5 kg/m ) were selected to participate in this study. subjects of the 2 groups completed aerobic exercise consisting of 40 minutes of running on a flat surface with no slope at 70%maximal heart rate. venous blood samples were collected before, immediately, 60 minutes and 24 hours after the exercise test of the 2 groups. data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures in each group. results: based on statistical data, serum interleukin (il)-6 level in smoker subjects was significantly higher than non-smokers at baseline. a significant increase was observed in serum il-6, immediately after exercise test in smokers yet remained unchanged in nonsmokers. interleukin-6 concentration decreased 1 and 24 hours after exercise compared with baseline in the 2 groups. conclusions: acute increase and recovery decrease in serum il-6 response to exercise suggests an anti-inflammatory effect of moderate aerobic exercise on smokers.