Cardiovascular Response and Serum Interleukin-6 Level in Concentric Vs. Eccentric Exercise

Mayank Agarwal; Shraddha Singh; Jagdish Narayan; Shivani Pandey; Sunita Tiwari; Priyanka Sharma

doi:10.7860/JCDR/2017/25281.9703

Cardiovascular Response and Serum Interleukin-6 Level in Concentric Vs. Eccentric Exercise

J Clin Diagn Res. 2017 Apr;11(4):CC04-CC08. doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2017/25281.9703. Epub 2017 Apr 1.

Authors

Mayank Agarwal¹, Shraddha Singh², Jagdish Narayan³, Shivani Pandey⁴, Sunita Tiwari², Priyanka Sharma¹

Affiliations

¹ Junior Resident, Department of Physiology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
² Professor, Department of Physiology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
³ Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
⁴ Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Resistance exercise is strongly recommended for implementation in CVD prevention programs. Dynamic resistance exercise comprises of concentric (muscle shortening) and eccentric (muscle lengthening) phase. The contraction of skeletal muscle promotes the synthesis and secretion of cytokines and peptides from myocytes, known as 'myokines'. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is the first myokine to be released in the blood in response to exercise.

Aim: To compare the cardiovascular response and serum IL-6 level in concentric and eccentric exercise done at same absolute workload.

Materials and methods: In this non-randomised crossover study 24, apparently healthy and young male adults performed an acute bout of concentric and eccentric exercise. Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP), Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP), Heart Rate (HR), Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP), Pulse Pressure (PP) and serum IL-6 were measured just before and immediately after exercise. Paired t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test were applied to compare the data within-group and in-between group.

Results: SBP, HR, MAP, PP, DBP and IL-6 level increased significantly after both, concentric and eccentric exercise. The mean change in SBP, HR, MAP, PP, and IL-6 after concentric exercise (18.54±3.06, 57.21±10.73, 8.35±1.40, 15.25±5.29, 5.40±3.13 respectively) was significantly higher than after eccentric exercise (13.38±1.72, 43.25±8.34, 6.50±1.0, 10.21±3.16, 4.36±2.54 respectively). A non-significant rise in DBP was obtained after concentric exercise (3.25±2.79) as compared to eccentric exercise (3.08±1.89).

Conclusion: Eccentric exercise not only caused a lesser cardiovascular demand as compared to concentric exercise but also a significant increment in IL-6 level. Exercise-induced IL-6 may prevent the initiation and development of CVD. Hence, eccentric exercise training might be recommended for reducing morbidity and mortality in individuals with- or at a risk of developing CVD.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Myokine; Resistance exercise.