Pentraxin 3 Reactivity to Acute Exercise in Obese Individuals

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) has been demonstrated as a vital biomarker for chronic inflammatory diseases. Decreased plasma PTX3 has been observed in obese populations. However, no studies have examined the impact of obesity on PTX3 reactivity to exercise. Therefore, our study sought to investigate PTX3 plasma response to maximal exercise in obese and normal-weight subjects, and its relationship with insulin sensitivity. Twenty-one subjects (9 obese and 12 normal-weight) were recruited. Plasma PTX3, insulin, and glucose levels were measured before and following exercise. While our results showed lower resting PTX3 levels in obese subjects, exercise elicited similar elevations in PTX3 and insulin sensitivity in both groups. Furthermore, PTX3 area-under-curve (AUC) was correlated with glucose AUC, even when controlled for body mass index and fitness level. These findings suggest that glucose may potentially regulate PTX3 response to exercise. Further investigation is needed to verify the impact of substrate utilization on exercise-induced PTX3 elevation.