The Change of Interleukin-6 Level-Related Genes and Pathways Induced by Exercise in Sedentary Individuals

Sedentary behavior increases the risk of many chronic disorders, in addition, these chronic diseases are associated with elevated markers interleukin-6 (IL-6). Increasing evidence indicates that physical activity can prevent chronic inflammatory disease. However, the effect of exercise on sedentary individuals with disparate basal serum IL-6 level was not well elucidated. In this study, the gene expression profile of GES12384 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. This data set contained 12 sedentary middle-aged men (6 high IL-6 and 6 low IL-6 level), and their blood samples were taken in the pre-exercise period and at the end of 24 weeks of exercise. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of 24 weeks group were identified, followed by functional enrichment analysis. Subsequently, protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and transcription factors (TFs)-DEGs network were constructed. A total of 193 DEGs were identified between high and low IL-6 level in the 24 weeks group. Functional enrichment analysis showed that DEGs were mainly involved in African trypanosomiasis pathway. PPI network revealed that the hub genes included C-C motif chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7), hemoglobin subunit delta (HBD), and interferon gamma (IFNG). Subnetworks analysis indicated that these genes were relevant to immune response, and participated in African trypanosomiasis pathway. The TF targets network found that myocyte enhancer factor 2A (MEF2A) was a key regulatory factor. In conclusion, the inflammation-related genes (CCR7, HBD, and IFNG) in sedentary individuals could be affected by exercise, and the identified DEGs and TFs in this study promoted our understanding of exercise inhibited the development of chronic disease. [Figure: see text].