Rory C. Monahan1, Ruifang Li-Gao1, Dennis O. Mook-Kanamori1,2 ,Raymond Noordam3,4, Ko Willems van Dijk5,6, Eelco de Koning5,7, David J.T. Campbell8, Joris Hoeks9, Andries Kalsbeek10-13, Parminder Raina14, Femke Rutters15, Patrick Schrauwen1,16, Rinke Stienstra17,18, Hendrik J.P. van der Zande18, Saskia le Cessie1, Frits R. Rosendaal1, Renée de Mutsert1, Jeroen H.P.M. van der Velde1
1. Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC), Leiden, the Netherlands
2. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, LUMC, Leiden, the Netherlands
3. Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Gerontology and Geriatrics, LUMC, Leiden, the Netherlands
4. Health Campus The Hague/Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, The Hague/Leiden, the Netherlands
5. Department of Human Genetics, LUMC, Leiden, the Netherlands
6. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, LUMC, Leiden, the Netherlands
7. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Transplantation, LUMC, Leiden, the Netherlands
8. Departments of Medicine, Community Health Sciences, and Cardiac Sciences Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
9. Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
10. Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, an Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
11. Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Laboratory of Endocrinology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
12. Amsterdam Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Metabolism (AGEM), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
13. Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
14. Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
15. Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
16. Institute for Clinical Diabetology, German Diabetes Center, Düsseldorf, Germany
17. Department of Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
18. Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Background: Timing of physical activity (PA) has previously been linked with differences in glycemia. To study a potential underlying mechanism, we investigated cross-sectional associations of PA intensity and timing with systemic inflammation and postprandial inflammatory responses in a middle-aged population.
Methods: We included 790 participants (40% men) from the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study, with mean (SD) age of 56 (6) years and BMI of 26 (6) kg/m². PA intensity and timing were assessed using accelerometers. We examined associations of sedentary time, light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), as well as PA timing, with systemic inflammation: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), glycoprotein acetyls (GlycA), and the GlycA meal response, while adjusting for demographic and lifestyle factors.
Results: Higher total PA (per SD of 18 kJ/kg/day) and more MVPA (per SD of 0.9 h/day) were associated with lower fasting GlycA: -1.7% [95% CI: -3.3; -0.1] and -2.1% [-3.6; -0.7], respectively. More LPA (per SD of 1.7 h/day) was linked to lower hsCRP (-11.2% [-20.4; -1.1]) and reduced GlycA meal response (-1.4% [-2.4; -0.3]). Sedentary time (per SD of 2.1 h/day) was associated with higher fasting GlycA (+1.8% [0.1; 3.7]) and GlycA meal response (+1.0% [0.1; 2.3]). Participants with most MVPA in the afternoon had 35% [-48; -18%] lower hsCRP compared to those with evenly distributed MVPA. No other associations with PA timing were observed.
Discussion/Conclusion: In this middle-aged population, higher daily PA at various intensities was associated with lower systemic inflammation and inflammatory meal response. Overall, PA timing showed limited associations with inflammation, suggesting it is unlikely to explain links between PA timing and glycaemic health.