A single bout of moderate exercise can reduce airway inflammation in people with asthma, according to Australian research.
A study, published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society, randomised 56 inactive adults with asthma to either no exercise, 45 mins moderate exercise or 30 mins vigorous exercise.
The study found moderate exercise led to significant decrease in sputum eosinophil count (p=0.032] and sputum % eosinophils (p=0.049] four hours following moderate exercise relative to controls.
Meanwhile, there was no effect of vigorous exercise on sputum eosinophil count or sputum % eosinophils relative to control. There was also no effect of either intensity of exercise on sputum neutrophils or FeNO.
Both moderate and vigorous exercise induced an increase in serum IL-6 and blood neutrophils relative to control. There was also an increase in plasma IL-1ra following moderate, but not vigorous, exercise relative to control.
“We also observed a significant interaction between exercise intensity and asthma phenotype, whereby moderate exercise reduced eosinophilic airway inflammation in participants with eosinophilic asthma (EA) but not in participants with non-eosinophilic asthma (NEA),” the researchers said.
“There was no effect of vigorous exercise on sputum eosinophils in participants with either asthma phenotype, suggesting reductions in eosinophilic airway inflammation were specific to participants with EA undertaking exercise of a moderate intensity.”