Changes in Glucose, TNF-α and IL-6 Blood Levels in Middle-aged Women Associated with Aerobic Exercise and Meditation Training

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise therapy on glucose, TNF-α and IL-6 blood levels in middle-aged women. [Subjects] A total of 46 participants were assigned to four groups: Type D personality+Exercise (n=12), Type D+no-Exercise (n=12), not-Type D+Exercise (n=12), and not-Type D+no-Exercise (n=10). [Methods] Blood glucose was measured by the hexokinase method. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the circulating plasma levels of TNF-α and IL-6 (Quantikine HS, R&D Systems, Minneapolis, USA). An aerobic exercise program and meditation were conducted in parallel by the Exercise groups for 10 months. Stretching was performed for 10 min as a warm-up, and then walking and running on a treadmill at 60 to 70% of HRmax were performed for 40 min three times a week. Blood samples were processed according to standard laboratory procedures. [Results] Fasting glucose showed a significant interaction effect among groups, group×time, and post-test. TNF-α showed a significant difference among groups, and was lower in the not-Type D personality+Exercise group than in the other three groups. IL-6 showed a significant difference among the groups. [Conclusion] In conclusion, personality may affect the established effect of exercise on cytokine activity. Type D personality was independently associated with significant immune activation, and increase in TNF-α activity was observed among Type D participants.