Several observational studies have reported an association between obesity and the number of inflammatory markers. Since exercise interventions appear to reduce concentrations of several inflammatory markers, Huffman et al. studied the changes in inflammatory markers after an exercise training intervention that induced changes in adiposity but included no changes in dietary intake. The study involved 189 subjects (88 women, 101 men) between 40 and 69 years of age. Results showed that, even if there were significant improvements in body composition and adiposity indices, no significant changes were observed in adiponectin, C-reactive protein, leptin, tumor necrosis factor-a, resistin, or interleukin-6 levels. Moreover, the authors did not find any relationship between changes in cytokine concentrations and changes in body fat mass, subcutaneous adiposity, intra-abdominal (visceral) adiposity, waist circumference, and percentage of body fat. Despite robust improvements in adiposity and intra-abdominal fat mass, exercise training produced limited changes in systemic concentrations of cytokines.
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