A system model of the effects of exercise on plasma Interleukin-6 dynamics in healthy individuals: Role of skeletal muscle and adipose tissue

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 12;12(7):e0181224. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181224. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been recently shown to play a central role in glucose homeostasis, since it stimulates the production and secretion of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) from intestinal L-cells and pancreas, leading to an enhanced insulin response. In resting conditions, IL-6 is mainly produced by the adipose tissue whereas, during exercise, skeletal muscle contractions stimulate a marked IL-6 secretion as well. Available mathematical models describing the effects of exercise on glucose homeostasis, however, do not account for this IL-6 contribution. This study aimed at developing and validating a system model of exercise's effects on plasma IL-6 dynamics in healthy humans, combining the contributions of both adipose tissue and skeletal muscle. A two-compartment description was adopted to model plasma IL-6 changes in response to oxygen uptake's variation during an exercise bout. The free parameters of the model were estimated by means of a cross-validation procedure performed on four different datasets. A low coefficient of variation (<10%) was found for each parameter and the physiologically meaningful parameters were all consistent with literature data. Moreover, plasma IL-6 dynamics during exercise and post-exercise were consistent with literature data from exercise protocols differing in intensity, duration and modality. The model successfully emulated the physiological effects of exercise on plasma IL-6 levels and provided a reliable description of the role of skeletal muscle and adipose tissue on the dynamics of plasma IL-6. The system model here proposed is suitable to simulate IL-6 response to different exercise modalities. Its future integration with existing models of GLP-1-induced insulin secretion might provide a more reliable description of exercise's effects on glucose homeostasis and hence support the definition of more tailored interventions for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / metabolism*
  • Exercise*
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-6 / blood*
  • Models, Biological*
  • Muscle, Skeletal / metabolism*
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiology
  • Oxygen Consumption

Substances

  • Interleukin-6

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme (https://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7 MISSION-T2D project, contract No.600803). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. There was no additional external funding received for this study.