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Review
. 2025 Jun 30;9(7):igaf072.
doi: 10.1093/geroni/igaf072. eCollection 2025 Jul.

The effect of physical interventions in older adults on inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-10, CRP, TNF-α): an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Emelyn Mathot  1 , Ali Hemadeh  2   3 , Veerle Knoop  1   4 , Ivan Bautmans  1   5 , Carlota Lema-Arranz  2   3 , Laura Lorenzo-López  6 , Vanessa Valdiglesias  3   7 , Blanca Laffon  2   3
Affiliations
Review

The effect of physical interventions in older adults on inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-10, CRP, TNF-α): an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Emelyn Mathot et al. Innov Aging. .

Abstract

Background and objectives: The occurrence of chronic low-grade inflammation during aging, also referred to as "inflammageing," can impair immunological homeostasis and threaten healthy ageing. Different physical exercise interventions have been proposed to tackle inflammageing. The aim of this umbrella review was to appraise current evidence from systematic reviews, with or without meta-analyses, on the effect of exercise interventions on circulating levels of inflammatory markers C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and the anti-inflammatory marker interleukin 10 (IL-10) in community-dwelling older adults.

Research design and methods: Thirteen systematic reviews on the effects of long-term exercise on CRP, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 in adults aged 60 years and older were selected from a systematic search in databases PubMed and Web of Science and were included in this umbrella review.

Results: Overall, a variety of long-term exercise modalities were able to reduce levels of CRP in older adults. Moreover, most exercise interventions were also able to decrease TNF-α. Some studies showed that long-term exercise can diminish IL-6, but the results are less conclusive. The long-term effects of exercise on IL-10 were less described in the literature, with only two systematic reviews showing increases, decreases, or no effects.

Discussion and implications: Results obtained in this umbrella review show that different exercise modalities can decrease circulating pro-inflammatory parameters CRP, TNF-α, and IL-6 in older adults. More research is needed to appraise the effect of exercise interventions on IL-10 in older adults.

Keywords: circulating cytokines; inflammageing; physical exercise interventions.

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Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flowchart: selection of the literature.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Quality assessment using AMSTAR 2. Each cell indicates whether the individual reviews met the criterion for each specific item (Yes, PY: probably yes, No, N/A: not applicable).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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