Toll-like Receptor 4: Link to the Anti-inflammatory Effects of Exercise?

Evidence is emerging that exercise training has anti-inflammatory effects. Our early finding that blood cultures from trained subject had a reduced responsiveness to lipopolysaccharide led to a series of studies in which we measured toll-like receptor 4--the primary signaling receptor for lipopolysaccharide. The toll-like receptor 4 expression was consistently lower in physically active subjects compared with inactive subjects and reduced after training in previously inactive subjects.