A short bout of exercise impacts TH2 inflammation of patients with obesity and well-controlled asthma

Existing evidence suggests that regular physical activity is associated with improved outcomes in asthma. However, the impact of exercise on TH2 inflammation in patients with mild and well-controlled asthma is not well understood. This study aimed to determine if a short bout of exercise, alters serum inflammatory cytokines in obese and nonobese patients with well-controlled asthma.

Participants were categorized into three groups: normal-weight asthma (NW-A), asthma with obesity (O-A), and a control group of obesity without asthma (O-Ctrl). Serum cytokines were measured before and at the peak of a cardiopulmonary exercise and tested using a cycle ergometer.

A total of 43 participants were included: NW-A (n = 15), O-A (n = 12), and O-Ctrl (n = 16). At baseline, the O-A group exhibited elevated levels of interleukin-5 (IL-5), IL-6, and leptin compared to the other groups. The NW-A group had higher baseline levels of IL-13 compared to the O-A group, but tumor necrosis factor-α levels were not significantly different among the groups. At peak exercise, both the O-A and NW-A groups showed reductions in plasma concentrations of IL-5, IL-6, and leptin. The O-A group showed a statistically significant increase in IL-13 levels at maximum exercise intensity, while the NW-A group did not exhibit a significant change.

A short bout of exercise modifies the inflammatory cytokine profile in all participants, with the most significant changes observed in the O-A group. Future studies on exercise training should include inflammatory cytokine measurements to validate these findings and further explore the unique inflammatory responses in obese asthmatic patients.