The Inflammation and Exercise (INFLAME) study was designed to investigate the effect of exercise training on elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations in men and women aged 30-75 years. For that purpose, 162 sedentary participants with elevated CRP (≥2.0 mg/l) were randomized into a nonexercise control group or an exercise group that trained for four months. Results showed that exercise training without weight loss was not associated with a reduction in CRP despite a 12% increase in fitness in the exercise group. However, an association was found between change in CRP and changes in weight and body fat assessed by DEXA in the exercise group but not in the control group. For both weight loss and body fat loss, the exercise group tertile with the largest reduction in these variables had significant reductions in CRP compared with all other groups. These findings suggest that exercise-induced reductions in CRP are probably largely mediated by fat loss.
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