ReviewSports medicine - open
A Systematic Review of the Acute Effects of Exercise on Immune and Inflammatory Indices in Untrained Adults.
Review in Sports medicine - open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Acute Cytokine Responses to High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise in Humans: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of exhaustive and/or strenuous exercise on aging-related molecular and physiological biomarkers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Biogerontology · 2026Pooled it
- Acute Inflammatory Responses to Blood Flow Restriction Training: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine - open · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of Exercise in Hypoxia on Inflammatory Cytokines in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine - open · 2023Pooled it
- Interleukin-15 responses to acute and chronic exercise in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Pooled it
- Inflammatory Biomarker Responses to Whole-Body Vibration in Subjects with Different Clinical Status: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of Acute and Chronic Aerobic Exercise on Immunological Markers: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in physiology · 2019Pooled it
- Exercise-induced stress behavior, gut-microbiota-brain axis and diet: a systematic review for athletes.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2016Pooled it
- Intensity matters: high-intensity interval resistance exercise induces greater immune activation than low-intensity resistance exercise 45 min post-workout.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Trial
- The influence of exercise modality on the inflammatory response to high-intensity interval training.ImmunoHorizons · 2026Trial
- Impact of curcumin supplementation on exercise performance and muscle damage after a soccer match: a double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over study.European journal of applied physiology · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Inflammatory responses to acute exercise during pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD.European journal of applied physiology · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Article
- Musculoskeletal and physiological responses to vortex wave stimulation in older adults.The Journal of physiology · 2026Article
- A mouse model to study persistent fatigue.Research square · 2026Article
- Molecular, cellular, biochemical, and rehabilitative insights into exercise interventions for gynecological cancer prevention and survivorship: a narrative review.Journal of ovarian research · 2025Review
- Alleviation of Gypenosides on Peripheral and Central Fatigue via Anti-Inflammation, Anti-Oxidation and Neurotransmitter Regulation.Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
- Impact of High Intensity Contact Physical Activity During a Match on Echocardiographic Parameters and High-Sensitivity Troponin I in Competitive Rugby Players.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of global mortality. Although the incidence may be reduced with regular exercise, the health benefits of a single bout of exercise on selected CVD risk factors are not well understood. The primary objective of this review is to consider the transient effects of exercise on immune (neutrophil count) and inflammatory (interleukin-6 [IL-6], C-reactive protein [CRP]) markers in untrained adults.
methodsMEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Sports Discus and Cochrane were searched for relevant studies published from January 1946 to May 2013. Randomised controlled or crossover studies which measured any of these parameters in untrained but otherwise healthy participants in the 48 h following about of exercise, less than 1 h in duration were included.
resultsTen studies met the inclusion criteria. The results indicate a single bout of aerobic or resistance exercise of moderate to high intensity promotes an increase in IL-6 (145 %) and neutrophil counts (51 %). It appears that 30-60 min of moderate to high intensity exercise is necessary to elicit such changes although variables such as the mode, intensity and pattern of exercise also affect the response. The acute response of CRP within the included studies is equivocal.
conclusionsAlthough responses to CRP are inconsistent, a single bout of exercise can increase the activity of both circulating IL-6 and neutrophil counts in untrained adults. These immune and inflammatory responses to a single bout of exercise may be linked to a range of health benefits.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.