Cytokine changes after a marathon race

of carbohydrate (1 l/h of a 6 % carbohydrate beverage), gen-der, and age on pro- and anti-inflammatory plasma cytokine and hormone changes was studied in 98 runners for 1.5 h after two competitive marathon races. The marathoner run-ners were randomly assigned to carbohydrate (C, n 5 48) and placebo (P, n 5 50) groups, with beverages administered during the races in a double-blind fashion using color codes. Plasma glucose was higher and cortisol was lower in the C than in the P group after the race (P, 0.001). For all subjects combined, plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-10, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), IL-6, and IL-8 rose significantly imme-diately after the race and remained above prerace levels 1.5 h later. The pattern of change in all cytokines did not differ significantly between the 12 women and 86 men in the study and the 23 subjects $50 yr of age and the 75 subjects,50 y