Objective. Inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and the occurrence of insulin resistance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise on inflammatory factors in patients with T2DM. Methods. A systematic review was conducted on five databases, Cochrane, Embase, Pubmed, Web of Science, and EBSCO. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between establishment of the database and November 2020 without restrictions on language were included. Studies evaluated the effects of exercise intervention on inflammatory cytokines in patients with T2DM were selected. Results. Twenty-three randomized controlled trials (1350 patients) were included in our meta-analysis. Exercise can significantly reduce the level of C-reactive protein (CRP) (MD: −0.79, 95% CI: −1.26 to −0.33, p = 0.0008 ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (MD: −2.33, 95% CI: −3.39 to −1.27, p < 0.0001 ), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) (MD: −0.42, 95% CI: −0.60 to −0.24, p < 0.0001 ) in T2DM patients. Conclusion. The findings of this review suggest that exercise reduces inflammatory cytokines (CRP, TNF-α, and IL-6) in T2DM patients. More studies with high methodological qualities and large sample sizes need to be done to confirm which forms of exercise are most effective.

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(1) Background: The declined function of peripheral circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in aging individuals resulted in decreased endothelial cell regeneration and vascular endothelial function. Improving EPCs function in aging individuals plays an important role in preventing cardiovascular diseases. (2) Methods: Thirty aged (18-month-old) male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control and exercise groups. An aerobic exercise intervention was performed 5 days/week for 8 weeks. EPCs functions, miR-21-5p, and TSP-1 expressions were detected after the intervention. The senescence rate, proliferation, and migration of EPCs were examined after overexpression of miR-21-5p and inhibition of TSP-1 expression. (3) Results: The senescence rate, proliferation, and migration of EPCs in exercise groups were significantly improved after exercise intervention. The miR-21-5p expression was increased and the TSP-1 mRNA expression was decreased in the EPCs after the intervention. miR-21-5p overexpression can improve EPCs function and inhibit TSP-1 expression but has no effect on senescence rate. Inhibition of TSP-1 expression could improve the function and reduce the senescence rate. (4) Conclusions: Our results indicate that long-term aerobic exercise can improve the functions of EPCs in aging individuals by downregulating TSP-1 expression via miR-21-5p, which reveals the mechanism of exercise in improving cardiovascular function.

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Peripheral nerve injury leads to severe neuropathic pain. Previous studies have highlighted the beneficial effects of physical exercise on alleviating neuropathic pain. Exercise regulating transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) can improve several diseases and relieve neuropathic pain induced by peripheral nerve injury. Here, we investigated whether exercise could alleviate neuropathic pain by modulating TGF-β1 expression. We assessed mechanical and cold pain behavior and conducted molecular evaluation of the spinal cord. We found that spared nerve injury (SNI) led to mechanical and cold allodynia in the hind paw, elevated the expression of latency-associated peptide- (LAP-) TGF-β1, and activated astroglial in the spinal cord. Exercise decreases allodynia, astroglial activation, and LAP-TGF-β1 in SNI mice. Intrathecal injection of a TGF-type I receptor inhibitor attenuated exercise analgesia and enhanced astroglial activation. These findings demonstrate that exercise induces analgesia by promoting TGF-β1 activation and inhibiting astrogliosis. Our study reveals a new underlying mechanism for exercise-attenuated neuropathic pain in the maintenance stage of neuropathic pain after nerve injury.