Paolucci Emily M, Loukov Dessi, Bowdish Dawn M E, Heisz Jennifer J
Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Biol Psychol. 2018 Mar;133:79-84. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.01.015. Epub 2018 Feb 3.
Exercise may help to mitigate symptoms of depression by reducing inflammation; however, little is known about the influence of exercise intensity on depressed mood.
In the present study, sixty-one university students were assigned to six weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIT), moderate continuous training (MCT), or no exercise (CON) during their academic term. We measured changes in depression, anxiety and perceived stress along with pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), and C-reactive protein (CRP).
Depression increased for CON, demonstrating how quickly mental health can decline for students during their academic term. In contrast, MCT decreased depression and pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α levels. Although HIT decreased depressive symptoms, it also increased perceived stress, TNF-α and IL-6 relative to MCT. This may be due to the higher level of physical stress evoked by the more strenuous exercise protocol.
Taken together, the results suggest that moderate-intensity exercise may be an optimal intensity of exercise for the promotion of mental health by decreasing TNF-α. This is critical for informing the use of exercise as medicine for mental health.
运动可能通过减轻炎症来缓解抑郁症状；然而，关于运动强度对抑郁情绪的影响知之甚少。
在本研究中，61名大学生在学期期间被分配进行为期六周的高强度间歇训练（HIT）、中等强度持续训练（MCT）或不运动（CON）。我们测量了抑郁、焦虑和感知压力的变化，以及促炎细胞因子肿瘤坏死因子α（TNF-α）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）和C反应蛋白（CRP）的变化。
CON组的抑郁症状增加，表明学生在学期期间心理健康下降的速度有多快。相比之下，MCT组降低了抑郁和促炎细胞因子TNF-α水平。尽管HIT组减轻了抑郁症状，但相对于MCT组，它也增加了感知压力、TNF-α和IL-6。这可能是由于更剧烈的运动方案引发了更高水平的身体压力。
综上所述，结果表明中等强度运动可能是通过降低TNF-α来促进心理健康的最佳运动强度。这对于将运动作为心理健康的药物使用具有重要意义。
