Rheumatic disease is a term used to describe over 200 conditions characterized by inflammation, swelling and pain in the joints or muscles. They are leading causes of disease and disability, responsible for enormous healthcare expenditures and loss of work. Nicholas Young, from The Ohio State University (Ohio, USA), and colleagues completed an in-vivo study measured the regulation and activation of NF-kappa-beta, a protein complex that controls many genes involved in inflammation that is found to be chronically active in many inflammatory diseases, in mice. An inflammatory response was created in mice both before and after exercise through an injection of lipopolysaccharides. The impact of exercise was measured over time following the inflammatory response. There was a strong systemic and local inflammatory response upon injection of lipopolysaccharides, which was strongest at 2 hours post-injection. NF-kappa-beta activation was seen as a result of the lipopolysaccharides and was detected in lymphatic tissues throughout the mouse. In those groups where mice were exercised pre- and post-LPS injection, the NF-kappa-beta activation was significantly inhibited in whole-body systemic analysis. The effect of exercise on the inhibition of NF-kappa-beta activation was identified as a transient effect, lasting only 24 hours after exercise. Importantly, the role of exercise in inhibiting NF-kappa-beta activation was linked to the suppression of multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines.
