The effect of 12 weeks of high-intensity interval training and curcumin consumption on plasma levels of IL-6, TNF- alpha and CRP in men with type II diabetes along with hyperlipidemia

The effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) along with curcumin consumption on inflammatory markers in people with metabolic syndrome still is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 12 weeks of HIIT along with curcumin consumption on plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in men with type II diabetes along with hyperlipidemia.

60 men with type II diabetes and hyperlipidemia (BMI: 31.09 ± 1.51 kg/m2) were randomly and equally divided into four groups (n=15) including HIIT, HIIT+curcumin consumption, curcumin consumption, and placebo-control. HIIT intervention and consumption of 2100 mg of curcumin were performed three times a day for 12 weeks. Sampling was performed 24 hours before the pre-test and 48 hours after the last session. Consequently, IL-6, TNF-alpha and CRP were assayed by ELISA method. Results were extracted using two-way analysis of covariance and Bonferroni post hoc test at the significance level of p<0.05.

The results showed that the most significant changes were observed in body mass index with 5.78% decrease (p=0.0001), body fat percentage with 20.62% decrease (p=0.002) and maximum oxygen consumption with 11.74% increase (p=0.04) in the HIIT+curcumin consumption group. Moreover, the interaction effect of HIIT and curcumin consumption significantly decreased TNF-alpha (p=0.01), IL-6 (p=0.01) and CRP (p=0.02). The main effect of HIIT significantly decreased TNF-alpha (p=0.01), IL-6 (p=0.02) and CRP (p=0.03). Also, the main effect of curcumin significantly decreased TNF-alpha (p=0.04), IL-6 (p=0.03) and CRP (p=0.03). The most significant decrease from pre-test to post-test in TNF-alpha (7.87%, p=0.0001), IL-6 (23.09%, p=0.0001) and CRP (53.75%, p=0.0001) was observed in the HIIT+curcumin consumption group.

It seems that the HIIT along with curcumin consumption further improves the inflammatory markers of men with type II diabetes along with hyperlipidemia status compared to the effect of each alone.