Plasma IL-6 Response with Paraplegia During a Wheelchair Half-Marathon Race

 

Yusuke Sasaki, Makoto Ide, Motohiko Banno, Takashi Kawasaki, Yasunori Umemoto, Nami Kanno, Masaki Goto, Ken Koda, Tomoyuki Ito, and Fumihiro Tajima

Department of Rehabilitation, Wakayama University School of Medicine

 

Objective: This study investigated the responses of Interleukin (IL)-6 in athletes with spinal cord injury (SCI) during and after a wheel chair half-marathon race.

Subjects: Twelve male wheelchair racers with SCI (spinal lesion between T4 and L1).

Setting: Field works in the half-marathon division of the 2008 Oita International Wheelchair Marathon Race.

Method: IL-6, Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, Epinephrine, Cortisol, and Monocyte were measured in participants of the race. Blood samples were obtained the day before, immediately after, and 2 hours after the race.

Result: The plasma concentration of TNF-α, Epinephrine and Cortisol increased (P<0.05) immediately after the race and returned to the control level within 2 hours. The number of circulating Monocyte increased (P<0.05) immediately after and 2 hours after the race compared with the day before. IL-6 increased (P<0.05) from 1.4±3.7pg/ml (mean ± SD) to 11.7±6.5pg/ml immediately after the race and decreased (P<0.05) to 4.0±2.6pg/ml 2 hours after.

Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that even upper arm wheelchair sports induced increases of IL-6. It was suggested that the severe stress of the half-marathon race induced a significant increase in plasma cortisol level immediately after the race. These data suggested that circulating monocyte are not the source of elevated levels of plasma IL-6 and TNF-αafter the race, since their changes were not related. Although wheel chair racers run involving a limited muscle mass, the muscle released the sufficient amount of IL-6.

 

Key word: Interleukin-6, wheel chair racers, exercise