The Effects of Acute and Chronic Aerobic Activity on the Signaling Pathway of the Inflammasome NLRP3 Complex in Young Men

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The results of the studies show that the intensity and volume of aerobic exercise activity produce different responses of the immune system. This study aims to show how the signaling pathway of the inflammatory NLRP3 complex is influenced by the acute and chronic effects of moderate and high-intensity aerobic exercises in young men. Materials and Methods: Accordingly, 60 healthy (BMI = 23.56 ± 2.67) young (24.4 ± 0.4) students volunteered to participate in the study that was randomly divided into two experimental (n = 20) groups and one control (n = 20) group. The training protocol started with two intensity levels of 50% for a moderate group and 70% of maximum heart rate for high group for 30 min and then continued until reaching 70% (moderate group) and 90% (high group) of the maximum heart rate, respectively. Using Real Time-PCR method, the expression of NLRP3 gene and ELISA- were measured by IL-1β, IL-18. Results: The results showed that acute aerobic exercise with moderate intensity had no significant effect on the expression of NLRP3 gene and serum levels of IL-1β and IL-18 cytokines (p > 0.05) when acute exercise, with high intensity, begins an initiation of the activity of the inflammatory complex with elevated serum levels of IL-1β, IL-18, and NLRP3 gene expression (p < 0.05). In addition, chronic exercise with moderate intensity significantly reduced the expression of NLRP3 gene and serum levels of IL-1β, IL-18 cytokines (p < 0.05). In the case of chronic exercise with high intensity, a significant increase in expression of gene, NLRP3 and serum levels of IL-1β, IL-18 cytokines were observed (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Generally, it can be concluded that chronic exercise with moderate intensity is effective in decreasing the expression of the inflammasome and inflammation.

Keywords: acute and chronic aerobic exercise; inflammasome complex; inflammation.

Figure 1

NLRP3 expression in PBMCs (relative to rRNA beta-actin) (A), and IL-1β (B) and IL-18 (C) plasma concentrations in controls and training subjects (moderate-intensity and high-intensity groups) at baseline (pre-test) after 48 h (post-acute) and 12 weeks (post-chronic) from the start of the protocol. Data are presented as mean ± SD. * significant difference within groups with baseline (p ≤ 0.05). # significant difference between groups with the control group (p ≤ 0.05). ¤ significant difference between moderate and high intensity groups (p ≤ 0.05).