| dc.description.abstract | Background The prevalence of maternal obesity is increasing worldwide, thus placing more women and their developing infant at risk for several pregnancy-related complications. Obesity is characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation giving more burden to the immune system, which has a fundamental role in pregnancy. Exercise training has anti-inflammatory effects in non-pregnant individuals, but whether the same applies to pregnant women is unclear.
Objective The aims of the study were to determine the effect of an exercise intervention on maternal serum cytokine levels and to investigate the association between excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) and changes in maternal serum cytokine levels from early to late pregnancy.
Methods This was a secondary analysis of the Exercise Training in Pregnancy (ETIP) trial, a single-center randomized controlled study. Eighty-eight previously inactive pregnant participants (n = 44 exercise group, n = 44 control group) with pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) > 28 kg/m2 were included. The exercise intervention comprised: 60 min supervised exercise sessions three times weekly, 50 min home exercise program at least once weekly, and daily pelvic floor muscle exercises. Maternal serum samples were collected at baseline (gestational week 12-18) and in late pregnancy (week 34-37) and analyzed for 27 different cytokines. Body weight was measured at baseline and at delivery, and excessive gestational weight gain was defined by the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines. I used linear mixed models (LMM) to explore development of cytokines from baseline to late pregnancy and to determine the effect of exercise and the associations between of gestational weight gain and changes in cytokine levels. P-values were adjusted for multiple comparisons.
Results Changes in cytokine concentrations from baseline to late pregnancy were mainly seen in cytokines classified as chemokines or growth and colony-stimulating factors. Three out of five chemokines (MCP-1, MIP-1b and, Eotaxin) decreased significantly from baseline to late pregnancy. From the five growth and colony-stimulating factors, one increased (GM-CSF) and three decreased (FGF-b, PDGF-BB, IL-7). The exercise intervention had no statistically significant effect on maternal serum cytokines. There was no significant association between excessive gestational weight gain and changes in cytokines.
Conclusion There was no effect of an exercise intervention on changes in the measured circulating cytokines during pregnancy in previously inactive women with overweight or obesity. Excessive gestational weight gain was not associated with changes in cytokines from early to late pregnancy. | |