Interleukin 12 correlates with performance, metabolism and acid-base balance during physical exercise

Abstract

Studies involving physical exercise are no longer performed only to evaluate the performance of athletes, but have become an important tool to understand how different forms of stress affect immunometabolism. The present study investigated the acute impact of a treadmill running test on different biomarkers, the acid-base system, glycemia/lactatemia, and the correlation between IL-12 and metabolism/performance. Ten male subjects participated in a cross-sectional study. The treadmill protocol was progressively increased until exhaustion. The IL-12 concentration was measured using the "Cytometric Bead Array" kit (CBA, BD Bioscience, USA) through flow cytometry, and the data were analyzed using FCAP Array software. The test had an average time of 13 minutes and 51 seconds and induced alterations in IL-12 concentration of 160%, lactate of 607%, blood glucose of 58%, blood pH of -3%, BE of -529%, bicarbonate of - 58%, and anion gap of 232%. It was observed that the lower the percentage variation in IL-12, the greater the phase to reach the anaerobic threshold (AT) in Km/h, and the time to reach this same threshold, and the opposite was also true, confirmed by the Spearman test. (-0.900 between IL-12 and the time to reach AT and -0.872 between IL-12 and the phase to reach AT). Other correlations were observed: between post-IL-12 and pre anion gap of 1.0, post-IL-12 and post chloride of 1.0, percentage change in IL-12 and post anion gap of 1.0 and percentage variation in IL-12 and post lactate of 0.943, pre-IL-12 and post anion gap of -1.0, post-IL-12 and pre LDH of -0.943, post-IL-12 and post LDH of -0.943, post-IL -12 and BE post of -9.943, post-IL-12 and post bicarbonate of -0.943, and post-IL-12 and post pH of -0.943. The AT was reached in 7:52 minutes, in the 14.9 km/h phase, with a heart rate of 163 beats per minute, an absolute power of 524 W, and an absolute VO2 of 3.12 l.min. A correlation between IL-12 and performance, metabolism, and blood acid-base balance is suggested. Furthermore, it is expected that approximately 15% of glycemia is formed by the CORI cycle, through the removal of lactate and reestablishment of glycemia, however, this estimate can be exceeded in athletes, according to the level of training.