The impact of obesity on pentraxin 3 and inflammatory milieu to acute aerobic exercise

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) has recently been linked to obesity-associated inflammation, serving as a cardioprotective modulator against cardiovascular disease (CVD). Aerobic exercise has been shown to enhance plasma PTX3 levels; however, the impact of obesity on PTX3 response to exercise remains unknown. Objective. Therefore, this study sought to examine whether obese subjects would have an attenuated plasma PTX3 response compared to normal-weight subjects following acute aerobic exercise. The relationship of plasma PTX3 with pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-alpha) was also examined. Methods. Twenty healthy subjects (10 obese [4 males and 6 females] and 10 normal-weight [4 males, 6 females]) performed 30 mm of continuous submaximal aerobic exercise. Results. At baseline, obese subjects exhibited approximately 40% lower plasma PTX3 and a 7-fold greater IL-6 concentration compared to normal-weight subjects. In response to exercise, no difference was observed in PTX3 or IL-6 as indicated by area-under-the-curve with respect to increase (AUCi) analyses. Furthermore, PTX3 AUCi was positively correlated with cardiorespiratory fitness levels (VO2max) (r = 0.594, p = 0.006), even after controlling for body mass index. Conclusion. These findings suggest that in addition to obesity-associated complications, low cardiorespiratory fitness levels could impact exercise-induced PTX3 elevations, thereby potentially diminishing PTX3's effects of anti-inflammation and/or cardioprotection. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.