Does 20-min arm crank ergometer exercise increase plasma interleukin-6 in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury?

Abstract

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is produced by contracting skeletal muscles and then released into the circulation and considered to mediate the health benefits of exercise against chronic diseases. Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) are reported to be at higher risk of developing metabolic diseases. We investigated the IL-6 responses to 20-min arm crank ergometer exercise at 60% of maximum oxygen consumption in eight trained individuals with cervical SCI (CSCI) between C6 and C7, and eight able-bodied trained healthy subjects. The plasma concentrations of IL-6, adrenaline, prostaglandin E(2) and cortisol were measured before, immediately after the exercise, 1 and 2 h after exercise. At rest, the plasma adrenaline concentration was significantly lower in individuals with CSCI than in able-bodied subjects (P < 0.01). On the other hand, the concentration of IL-6 was significantly higher at rest in individuals with CSCI (2.18 ± 0.44 pg/ml, mean ± SEM) than the control (1.02 ± 0.22 pg/ml, P < 0.05). In able-bodied subjects, the plasma adrenaline concentration increased significantly immediately after the exercise (P < 0.01) and returned to the baseline level at 1 h after exercise, and the plasma IL-6 level increased significantly at 1 h after exercise (1.91 ± 0.28 pg/ml, P < 0.05) and returned to the baseline level at 2 h after exercise. In contrast, adrenaline and IL-6 levels were steady throughout the study in individuals with CSCI. The lack of exercise-related IL-6 response in individuals with CSCI could be due to muscle atrophy and sympathetic nervous system dysfunction.

Hot water immersion induces an acute cytokine response in cervical spinal cord injury

“…Future research using interventions at a range of immersion temperatures may elucidate the minimum "critical" temperature elevation needed to induce a cytokine response. The increases in IL-6 and IL-1ra in CSCI following hot water immersion differ from earlier exercise interventions, where no acute cytokine elevations in the acute post-exercise phase were found in similar populations (Kouda et al 2012;Paulson et al 2013), whereas up to 128-fold increases in IL-6 following the longest and most strenuous forms of exercise are found in the AB population (Pedersen and Febbraio 2008). As our present results show that elevated core temperature seems to independently induce a cytokine response, it seems possible that the reduced active muscle mass in CSCI does not allow for sufficient core temperature elevations during exercise to mount a cytokine response.…”

“…It is also possible that the Ca 2+ dependent pathways during muscle contraction that induce a cytokine response (Pedersen and Febbraio 2008) are not sufficiently activated in CSCI as a result of the drastically reduced active muscle mass. Additionally, as catecholamines independently induce a cytokine response (Steensberg et al 2001), the blunted catecholamine response in CSCI following exercise interventions (Banno et al 2012;Kouda et al 2012;Paulson et al 2013) may explain the blunted exercise response on cytokine concentrations. The secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines following exercise may therefore be reduced in CSCI, blunting the anti-inflammatory effects of exercise as described by Gleeson et al (2011).…”

“…The cytokine response -in the specific case of IL-6 -is governed by muscle-contraction dependent and sympathetic nervous system mediated signalling pathways (Welc and Clanton 2013). This may explain the blunted cytokine response to acute exercise in CSCI, given their reduced muscle mass and sympathetic dysfunction (Kouda et al 2012;Paulson et al 2013)., and Iin turn, this may contribute to higher concentrations of pro-inflammatory markers found in CSCI at rest (Davies et al 2007;Kouda et al 2012;Segal et al 1997).…”

Determination of normative values for 20 min exercise of wheelchair propulsion by spinal cord injury patients

“…Performance parameters (distance and speed of propulsion) Several different types of exercise lasting 20 min, including arm ergometer, 15 handcycling 16 or wheelchair, 1 have been conducted to evaluate the performance of people with SCI.…”

Elevation of interleukin-6 and attenuation of tumor necrosis factor-α during wheelchair half marathon in athletes with cervical spinal cord injuries

“…1 Based on these two factors, we hypothesized that because of the relatively small muscle volume in the CSCI group, as compared with the SCI group, exercise is not likely to increase IL-6 during exercise. Actually, Kouda et al 6 reported that 20-min arm exercise at 60% of VO 2 max in individuals with CSCI did not increase IL-6.…”