Chronic exercise and the pro-inflammatory response to endotoxin in the serum and heart.

Purpose: To examine the effects of moderate intensity chronic exercise on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) responses to endotoxin in female Sprague-Dawley rats.

Methods: Rats were divided into two groups, exercise (n=17) and sedentary (n=24). Exercise (Ex) rats completed 12 weeks of motorized treadmill running 3 days/week for 15-25 min at 22-25 m/min, while sedentary (Sed) rats remained in their cages.