Exercise and Inflammation

Exercise and Inflammation: Autonomic, Affective & Cellular Mechanisms

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that aerobic exercise leads to attenuation of the inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cardiovascular Disease
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: aerobic training; Behavioral: Wait list

Detailed Description

Aerobic exercise - the most widely recommended health behavior - is recognized to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, so much so that consensus panels routinely include it as part of a cardioprotective regimen for healthy people, but the physiological or mechanistic basis of this protection is uncertain. Understanding the mechanisms has considerable public health significance because it will allow development and testing of targeted interventions to produce comparable cardioprotective effects more directly or in cases where aerobic exercise is not possible. This application proposes to test the hypothesis that aerobic training leads to attenuation of the inflammatory response to LPS stimulation and to examine the role played by exercise-induced increases in vagal activity, improvements in mood, and decreased expression of Toll Receptor 4 (TLR4), the cognate receptor for endotoxin expressed by monocytes.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 241
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • Columbia University Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years to 45 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age 20-45 years old
2. English-speaking
3. Ambulatory
4. BMI < 32
5. Pre-menopausal (women only) with regular cycle lengths between 26-32 days
6. "Average" fitness as determined by American Heart Association standards (VO2max < 43 ml/kg/min for men, < 37 ml/kg/min for women) VO2max test

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Use of anti-psychotic medications
2. Current of past major depressive disorder, or total symptom score > 10
3. BMI<18
4. Heart disease
5. Hypertension
6. Diabetes mellitus
7. Neurologic disease
8. Smoking
9. Individuals with ischemic heart disease, cardiac arrhythmias, peripheral vascular disease, orthopedic problems such as foot, leg, hip and spine problems,movement disorders, other neurological disorders affecting gait or balance, conditions or treatments associated with impaired thermoregulation, or other medical problems, for which aerobic training would be contraindicated.
10. Use of any medication with autonomic effects
11. Use of birth control medication
12. Ischemic changes, abnormal blood pressure responses, significant ectopy
13. Appears to be at high risk to be unable to adhere to study protocol

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: aerobic training; 12 weeks of aerobic training, 4 times/week	Behavioral: aerobic training; 12 weeks of aerobic training, 4 times/week; Other Names: Training, aerobic
Placebo Comparator: wait list control; wait list control condition, 12 weeks + 4 to parallel the deconditioning protocol in active intervention group	Behavioral: Wait list; wait list control condition; Other Names: Condition, wait list control

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha)	TNF-alpha will be measured from whole blood samples stimulated with lipopolysaccharide	change from before (pre) to after (post) 12 weeks of training & after 4 weeks of post-deconditioning

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in mood, including depressive symptomatology and negative affect		change from before (pre) to after (post) 12 weeks of training & after 4 weeks of post-deconditioning
interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-8, IL-10	these cytokines will be measured from whole blood samples stimulated with lipopolysaccharide	change from before (pre) to after (post) 12 weeks of training & after 4 weeks of post-deconditioning
TLR-4	TLR-4 will be measured from blood samples	change from before (pre) to after (post) 12 weeks of training & after 4 weeks of post-deconditioning
cerebral blood volume (CBV) in the dentate gyrus		change from before (pre) to after (post) 12 weeks of training

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: New York State Psychiatric Institute
• Collaborators: Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Sloan RP, Shapiro PA, Demeersman RE, McKinley PS, Tracey KJ, Slavov I, Fang Y, Flood PD. Aerobic exercise attenuates inducible TNF production in humans. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2007 Sep;103(3):1007-11. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00147.2007. Epub 2007 Jul 12.
• Sloan RP, Shapiro PA, Lauriola V, McIntyre K, Pavlicova M, Choi CJ, Choo TH, Scodes JM. The Impact of Aerobic Training on Cardiovascular Reactivity to and Recovery From Psychological and Orthostatic Challenge. Psychosom Med. 2021 Feb-Mar 01;83(2):125-137. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000896.
• McIntyre KM, Puterman E, Scodes JM, Choo TH, Choi CJ, Pavlicova M, Sloan RP. The effects of aerobic training on subclinical negative affect: A randomized controlled trial. Health Psychol. 2020 Apr;39(4):255-264. doi: 10.1037/hea0000836. Epub 2020 Jan 9.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: January 1, 2010
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 14, 2010
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 13, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): April 14, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 11, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 7, 2018
• Last Verified: June 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Cardiovascular Diseases; Inflammation
• Other Study ID Numbers: 5948/6956R; HL094423 (Other Identifier: CU)