The effect of acute physical exercise on serum IL6 and CRP levels in healthy non-athlete adolescents

Introduction:Interleukin-6 (IL6) is the major cytokine involved in initiation of acute phase response, synthesizing certain hepatic proteins such as the C-reactive protein (CRP). The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of acute physical exercise on response of some inflammatory predictors of cardiovascular diseases (e.g. IL6 and CRP) in healthy non-athlete adolescents.Material and Methods:15 non-athlete adolescents, with a mean age of 15.4 ± 0.9 years, volunteered for the study. Initially, fasting blood samples were obtained from the participants; then, the subjects cycled with 65%-70% of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) for 30 minutes. Blood samples were obtained from subjects immediately and 60 minutes after the exercise to measure HS-CRP and IL6. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance with repeated measures and the post hoc LSD test to determine the difference among phases.Results:Compared to the measurements before exercise, serum levels of IL6 rose significantly immediately and 60 minutes after the exercise, whereas serum levels of HS-CRP rose significantly 60 minutes after the exercise.Conclusion:Acute physical exercise boosts serum levels of IL6 and CRP in healthy adolescents. Considering the impact of intensity, duration, and type of physical exercise, as well as fitness level on immunity response, it is advisable to pay extra attention to the level of physical training leading to exhaustion required from non-athlete adolescents