THE EFFECTS OF THE RESISTANCE TRAINING ON SERUM CORTISOL, IL-6, IL-8, AND TNF- alpha

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate effects of resistance training on IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha, blood hematocrit and cortisol levels. Materials and Methods: Thirteen players from Manisa Celal Bayar University soccer team and 14 sedentary male students were used as the study subjects. The subjects, whose average age was 18-24 years old, were healthy and free of any cardiovascular diseases. Anthropometrics measurements and blood samples were obtained from all the subjects. Blood samples were obtained basal sample (before the exercise), immediately after the training program (post-exercise), and 2 hours after the training program (2h post-exercise). All subjects participated in the training program in which intensity prescribed individually in 10 different exercises; seated leg press, knee extension, knee flexion, chest press, chest flys, lat pull down, shoulder press, triceps extension, biceps curl and sit-ups. The exercise protocol was 8-10-12 repetitions of each exercise at 70 to 80 % of one-repetition maximum in accordance with the pyramid training system and three sets for each station. The volume of resistance training was 50-60 minutes. Results: Post exercise IL-6 (p=0.05) and IL-8 (p=0.04) concentration of athletes were statistically lower compared to that of sedentary group. Two hours after the exercise, the TNF-alpha values of the sedentary individuals were also statistically higher than those of the trained individuals. Furthermore, serum cortisol concentrations were found to be decreased in both study groups in post exercise and 2h post exercise samples compared to basal values (p<0.05). Post exercise IL-8 (p=0.04) and TNF-alpha (p=0.04) values of sedentary group increased significantly compared to values at 2h post exercise. There was no statistically significant change in IL 6 values of the trained and sedentary subjects immediately after the exercise. Conclusion: IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha responses to resistance training vary depending on the recruitment of different muscle fiber types by the trained individuals during the resistance training and the recovery of glycogen storage, which is found to be different from that of sedentary individuals. The decrease in the serum IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations at post exercise and 2h post-exercise samples in the training group when compared to the sedantary group revealed us that, training lowers the proinflammatory marker IL-6 and IL-8 which reflects a positive effect of the training on the overall body inflammation status.