J Appl Physiol (1985). 2020 Oct 15.
Low muscle mass and frailty are especially prevalent in older women and may be accelerated by age-related inflammation. Habitual physical activity throughout the lifespan (lifelong exercise) may prevent muscle inflammation and associated pathologies, but this is unexplored in women. This investigation assessed basal and acute exercise-induced inflammation in three cohorts of women: young exercisers (YE, n=10, 25±1y, VO2max:44±2mL/kg/min, quadriceps size:59±2cm2), old healthy non-exercisers (OH, n=10, 75±1y, VO2max:18±1mL/kg/min, quadriceps size:40±1cm2), and lifelong aerobic exercisers with a 48±2y aerobic training history (LLE, n=7, 72±2y, VO2max:26±2mL/kg/min, quadriceps size:42±2cm2). Resting serum IL-6, TNF-α, CRP, and IGF-1 were measured. Vastus lateralis muscle biopsies were obtained at rest (basal) and 4h after an acute exercise challenge (3x10reps, 70%1RM) to assess gene expression of cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-10, IL-4, IL-1Ra, TGF-β), chemokines (IL-8, MCP-1), cyclooxygenase enzymes (COX-1, COX-2), prostaglandin E2 synthases (mPGES-1, cPGES) and receptors (EP3-4), and macrophage markers (CD16b, CD163), as well as basal macrophage abundance (CD68+ cells). The older cohorts (LLE+OH combined) demonstrated higher muscle IL-6 and COX-1 (P≤0.05) than YE, while LLE expressed lower muscle IL-1β (P≤0.05 vs. OH). Acute exercise increased muscle IL-6 expression in YE only, whereas the older cohorts combined had higher postexercise expression of IL-8 and TNF-α (P≤0.05 vs. YE). Only LLE had increased postexercise expression of muscle IL-1β and MCP-1 (P≤0.05 vs. preexercise). Thus, aging in women led to mild basal and exercise-induced inflammation that was unaffected by lifelong aerobic exercise, which may have implications for long-term function and adaptability.
Keywords: acute exercise; inflammaging; inflammation; lifelong exercise; skeletal muscle