Efeitos dos exercícios físicos sobre os índices de mediadores inflamatórios em idosos comunitários

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the current systematic review is to synthesize the available evidence to investigate the effects of physical exercise on IL-6 and TNF- levels of elderly community residents. Methods: The electronic databases Medline, CINAHL, PEDro, Cochrane Library, SciELO and LILACS were searched (2000 to 2010). Inclusion criteria: Clinical trial, Randomized and/or controlled trials were identified, subjects older than 60 years, score on PEDro scale . The followings were excluded: sample with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, chronic heart failure, myocardial infarction, osteoarthritis, diabetes or metabolic syndrome, studies that presented only preliminary data or conducted with institutionalized or hospitalized elderly. Results: 281 studies were found in MEDLINE, 3 studies in the PEDro database, 46 in CINAHL database and 6 in the Cochrane Library. No articles were found in the other databases searched (Scielo and LILACS). After examining the titles and abstracts, 15 studies were selected for evaluation of the full text. Hand searching supplied another 4 potentially relevant studies. Of these 19, 14 studies were excluded. In total, 5 studies fulfilled all inclusion criteria in the review. The data indicated a total of five different types of interventions: 1) muscle strengthening, 2) aerobic training 3) muscle strengthening and aerobic training 4) muscle strengthening, balance and flexibility, 5) muscle strengthening, balance, flexibility and aerobic training. The results of some studies were contradictory even with similar interventions. Conclusion: There is no conclusive evidence on what type of exercise is the most effective to reduce concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in older adults, even when the studies of greater methodological rigor are analyzed separately. Evidence shows that physical activity is associated with lower concentrations of inflammatory cytokines, suggesting that physical exercise can reduce the chronic inflammation in the elderly.