The Anti-inflammatory Effects of Exercise: Mechanisms and Implications for the Prevention and Treatment of Disease

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Immunol

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2011 Aug 6

PMID 21818123

Citations 866

Authors

Michael Gleeson

Nicolette C Bishop

David J Stensel

Martin R Lindley

Sarabjit S Mastana

Myra A Nimmo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Regular exercise reduces the risk of chronic metabolic and cardiorespiratory diseases, in part because exercise exerts anti-inflammatory effects. However, these effects are also likely to be responsible for the suppressed immunity that makes elite athletes more susceptible to infections. The anti-inflammatory effects of regular exercise may be mediated via both a reduction in visceral fat mass (with a subsequent decreased release of adipokines) and the induction of an anti-inflammatory environment with each bout of exercise. In this Review, we focus on the known mechanisms by which exercise - both acute and chronic - exerts its anti-inflammatory effects, and we discuss the implications of these effects for the prevention and treatment of disease.

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