Report
Inflammation-mediating cytokine response to acute handcycling exercise
This study investigated whether the inflammation-mediating potential of handcycling exercise can be enhanced by the addition of concurrent electrical stimulation-evoked lower-limb cycling.
- Lead academic:
- Professor Vicky Tolfrey
- Additional academics:
- Tom Paulson
- Funder:
- The Peter Harrison Foundation
Lower-limb paralysis and immobilisation following a spinal cord injury (SCI) predispose individuals to an elevation in cardiovascular disease risk factors; including chronic inflammation.
Participation in regular exercise can reduce cardiovascular disease risk, in part because exercise may exert a down-regulatory effect on inflammatory pathways driving the development of insulin resistance and atherosclerosis.
Methods
Main findings and application
- Initial findings suggest paralysed skeletal muscle releases the myokine IL-6 in response to electrically evoked contractions. Moderate intensity (60% power output (PO)peak obtained during handcycling only) hybrid exercise was associated with an elevation in plasma concentrations of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10; an effect not present when performing handcycling exercise alone in an untrained cohort.
- Hybrid exercise may offer a method of maximising the anti-inflammatory potential of acute exercise in individuals with a thoracic SCI responsive to FES-evoked contractions.
- When performing voluntary upper-limb exercise alone, the absolute exercise intensity (W), as well as the relative exercise intensity (% POpeak), may be important in determining the magnitude of the anti-inflammatory cytokine response
Reference
Paulson, T., Bishop, N., Smith, B. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V. (2014). Inflammation-mediating cytokine response to acute handcycling exercise with/without functional electrical stimulation-evoked lower limb cycling. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development. 51(4): 645-654. DOI: 10.1682/JRRD.2013.08.0184