Renewed avenues through exercise muscle contractility and inflammatory status

Area of Science:

• Exercise physiology
• Inflammation biology
• Chronic disease research

Background:

• Physical inactivity promotes visceral fat accumulation and inflammatory pathways, contributing to insulin resistance, atherosclerosis, neurodegeneration, and tumor growth, collectively termed the "diseasome of physical inactivity".
• Regular exercise exhibits protective effects against inflammation-associated diseases, partly due to its anti-inflammatory properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize literature on exercise's effects on inflammatory diseases.
• To explore the concept of the "acute exercise threshold" and its implications for therapeutic adaptations.
• To foster a nuanced understanding of exercise's anti-inflammatory mechanisms and potential as a therapeutic strategy.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of studies investigating exercise interventions and inflammatory markers.
• Analysis of research concerning the "acute exercise threshold" and its relationship to physiological adaptations.
• Synthesis of data on exercise's impact on inflammatory diseases and associated muscle effects.

Main Results:

• Exercise can induce positive physiological adaptations by crossing a critical "acute exercise threshold" of type, volume, frequency, and intensity.
• Insufficient mechanical stimulus below this threshold fails to disrupt cellular homeostasis and elicit training adaptations.
• The level of the exercise threshold is crucial, as exceeding it can shift training from therapeutic to potentially pathological.

Conclusions:

• Exercise interventions must carefully consider the "acute exercise threshold" to optimize anti-inflammatory benefits and avoid adverse effects.
• Understanding this threshold could lead to novel therapeutic approaches for inflammatory diseases with detrimental muscle effects.
• Further research is needed to refine the application of exercise as a targeted anti-inflammatory therapy.