Effects of prior acute exercise on circulating cytokine concentration responses to a high-fat meal

High-fat meal consumption alters the circulating cytokine profile and contributes to cardiometabolic diseases. A prior bout of exercise can ameliorate the triglyceride response to a high-fat meal, but the interactive effects of exercise and high-fat meals on cytokines that mediate cardiometabolic risk are not fully understood. We investigated the effects of prior exercise on the responses of circulating tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, leptin, retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), placental growth factor (PlGF), and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) to a high-fat meal. Ten healthy men were studied before and 4 h after ingestion of a high-fat meal either with or without ∼50 min of endurance exercise at 70% of VO2 max on the preceding day. In response to the high-fat meal, lower leptin and higher VEGF, bFGF, IL-6, and IL-8 concentrations were evident (P < 0.05 for all). There was no effect of the high-fat meal on PlGF, TNF-α, or RBP4 concentrations. We found lower leptin concentrations with prior exercise (P < 0.05) and interactive effects of prior exercise and the high-fat meal on sFlt-1 (P < 0.05). The high-fat meal increased IL-6 by 59% without prior exercise and 218% with prior exercise (P < 0.05). In conclusion, a prior bout of endurance exercise does not affect all high-fat meal-induced changes in circulating cytokines, but does affect fasting or postprandial concentrations of IL-6, leptin, and sFlt-1. These data may reflect a salutary effect of prior exercise on metabolic responses to a high-fat meal.