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Plasma IL-6 concentration during ultra-endurance exercise

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Abstract

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) response was studied during two ultra endurance events—one laboratory 24 h protocol (9 men) with exercise intensity set to 60% of VO2max and one Adventure Race over 6 days (12 men/6 women) with a self-selected race pace, including rests, of about 38% of VO2max. In the 24-h protocol IL-6 level was elevated from 0.76 ± 0.48 pg mL−1 at rest to 7.16 ± 2.70 pg mL−1 at 6 h, and increased further to 10.58 ± 1.04 pg mL−1 at 12 h, but remained thereafter unchanged at 24 h, (10.89 ± 0.36 pg mL−1). All participants had nearly identical values at 12 and 24 h, supporting intensity as main determinant in the IL-6 response during prolonged exercise since exercise duration did not increase IL-6 level after 12 h. Possible confounding factors do not seem to influence the IL-6 concentration during the longer races (>12 h), but might very well do so during shorter exercise bouts. In the 6-day race IL-6 increased from rest to 24 h, but thereafter there was no change in plasma IL-6 value until the end of the race (mean 143.5 h). There was no elevation of TNF-α in any of the protocols, suggesting that the competitors were free from systemic inflammation. We conclude that during endurance exercise lasting >12 h intensity, and not duration, is the main determinant of the IL-6 response, while during shorter exercise bouts both intensity and duration contribute to the accumulation of IL-6 in plasma.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge with sincere gratitude the courageous efforts of our subjects. They also thank their supportive colleagues at Åstrand Laboratory of Work Physiology. The study was financially supported by grants from The Swedish National Centre for Research in Sports and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Åstrand Laboratory of Work Physiology, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Box 5626, SE-114 86, Stockholm, Sweden

    Linnea Wallberg, C. Mikael Mattsson, Jonas K. Enqvist & Björn Ekblom

  2. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    C. Mikael Mattsson

Authors
  1. Linnea Wallberg
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  2. C. Mikael Mattsson
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  3. Jonas K. Enqvist
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  4. Björn Ekblom
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Correspondence to Björn Ekblom.

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Communicated by William Kraemer.

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Wallberg, L., Mikael Mattsson, C., Enqvist, J.K. et al. Plasma IL-6 concentration during ultra-endurance exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol 111, 1081–1088 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1737-7

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