Is lifelong endurance training associated with maintaining levels of testosterone, interleukin-10, and body fat in middle-aged males?
Background: Aging is associated with a gradual physiological decline, including an imbalance in hormone profile, increased adiposity, and reduced anti-inflammatory cytokines. However, lifelong physical exercise mitigates aging, as observed in endurance-trained middle-aged athletes (EMA).
Aim: We compared and associated testosterone, interleukin 10 (IL-10), and body fat in EMA and untrained age-matched individuals (UAM).
Methods: Participants were EMA (n= 25; 51.48 ± 9.49 years) and UAM (n= 23; 46.0 ± 9.37 years). Both groups underwent body composition measurements (evaluated by a skinfold protocol) and blood sampling for IL-10 (assessed through ELISA® kit) and testosterone (assessed with Roche Diagnostics® kit, Mannheim, Germany, by chemiluminescence technique in a third-party laboratory).
Results: The EMA had lower body fat (14.15 ± 3.82% vs. 23.42 ± 4.95%; p <0.05), higher testosterone (751.68 ± 191.45 ng/dL vs. 493.04 ± 175.15 ng/dL; p <0.05), and higher IL-10 (8.00 ± 1.21 pg/mL vs. 5.89 ± 1.16 pg/mL; p <0.05) when compared to UAM. A significant linear correlation was found between testosterone and IL-10 (r= 0.56; p= 0.001), whereas significant inverse correlations were observed between body fat and testosterone (r= -0.52; p= 0.001), and body fat and IL-10 (r= -0.69; p= 0.001).
Conclusions: EMA had higher levels of IL-10 and testosterone and lower body fat in comparison with UAM. Additionally, higher IL-10 was associated with increased levels of circulating testosterone and lower body fat.
Relevance for patients: The adoption of endurance training as part of a healthy lifestyle may contribute to decreasing age-related testosterone reduction, besides reducing markers of inflammaging, preventing the occurrence of chronic age-related diseases, and thus contributing to healthy aging. For people who already have chronic diseases, physical exercise can shift the immune system toward a more anti-inflammatory profile and, thus, improve their pathological condition. In both cases, physical exercise can help attenuate the decline in testosterone, decrease body fat, and increase anti-inflammatory levels.
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