Research Paper Volume 14, Issue 24 pp 10137—10152
Moderate-vigorous physical activity attenuates premature senescence of immune cells in sedentary adults with obesity: a pilot randomized controlled trial
- 1 Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong SAR, China
- 2 Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong SAR, China
Received: September 22, 2022 Accepted: December 20, 2022 Published: December 29, 2022
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204458How to Cite
Copyright: © 2022 Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Despite the well-known senolytic effects of physical exercise on immune cells in older adults, the effect of physical activity (PA) on premature immune senescence in sedentary adults with obesity remains largely unknown. This pilot study aimed to investigate the role of objectively measured physical behaviors and Fitbit watch-based free-living PA intervention in premature senescence of immune cells in sedentary adults with obesity. Forty-five participants were recruited in the cross-sectional analysis, and forty of them further participated in the randomized controlled trial. We found that objectively measured moderate–vigorous PA was independently and inversely correlated with the expression of p16INK4a and p21Cip1 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMCs) of adults with obesity; however, chronological age, body mass index, body fat, maximal oxygen consumption, light PA, sedentary behaviors, and sleep duration were not. More importantly, the 12-week PA intervention mitigated the elevated p16INK4a levels in PBMCs, though it showed no effect on p21Cip1 and senescence-associated secretory phenotypes. Taken together, physical inactivity is an independent determinant of premature senescence in immune cells, while the 12-week PA intervention is a promising strategy to alleviate premature immune senescence in adults with obesity.
Abbreviations
BMI: body mass index; CCL2: C-C motif chemokine ligand 2; ICAM-I: intercellular adhesion molecule 1; IL: interleukin; LPA: light physical activity; MVPA: measured moderate-vigorous physical activity; PA: physical activity; PAI-I: plasminogen activator inhibitor-1; PBMCs: peripheral blood mononuclear cells; RCT: randomized controlled trial; SASPs: senescence-associated secretory phenotypes; VEGF: vascular endothelial growth factor; VO2max: maximal oxygen consumption; WHO: World Health Organization.