[Physical training as immunomodulatory treatment in chronic heart failure]

Exercise training is an established method of treatment in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), which is still underused in Poland. It has been shown to improve exercise tolerance, physical fitness, clinical status and probably prognosis. Mechanism of it's beneficial effects is under investigation, to answer the question, whether exercise training just reverses changes caused by decrease in physical activity or interferes with the catabolic factors involved in the pathogenesis of myopathy. According to "cytokine theory", progression of CHF is at least partly due to the inflammatory process with cytokines in it's center. In this context it is investigated whether exercise training has immunomodulatory effects. This paper reviews the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of CHF. It is stressed that intensive exercise increases inflammation. In this context immunomodulatory effects of exercise training are discussed. Papers review effects of physical training, taken into consideration different forms of training, it's influence of different stages of inflammation and clinical status of patients. It is emphasized, that probably there are differences in training effects in relation to etiology of CHF. There are not many studies concerning these problems. It seems, based on their results that improvement of exercise capacity and clinical status after exercise training may be, at least partly, explained by decrease in inflammatory reaction. These papers contributes to better understanding of the role of inflammation in CHF and open a new scope of investigation asking new questions.