The Effect of Eccentric Resistance Training with and Without Blood Flow Restriction on Serum IL6 and MMP9 Levels in Young Active Men

Background: It has been assumed that during and after BFR exercises, many blood factors are activated and angiogenesis response is stimulated in the arteries. Objectives: Therefore, the current study aimed to determine the effect of two eccentric resistance training methods with and without blood flow restriction on serum IL6 and MMP9 levels in active young men. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 16 healthy men with a mean age of 27.8 ± 2.85 (years), the weight of 79.4 ± 12.4 (kg), and a body mass index of 25.5 ± 3.7 (kg/m2) were randomly assigned to either low-intensity eccentric group with BFR or the high-intensity eccentric without BFR. The high-intensity (70% - 80% maximum voluntary contraction MVC) eccentric exercise without BFR included 3 - 5 cycles of eccentric contraction of the quadriceps muscles, up to exhaustion, whereas low-intensity eccentric exercise executed similar exercise modality at intensity of 20% - 30% MVC with blood flow restriction up to exhaustion. Blood samples were taken from antecubital both before and after the exercise to measure serum IL6 and MMP9 values using the ELISA method. Data were analyzed using paired t-test and analysis of variance with repeated measure test in SPSS version 22. A P value of < 0.05 was defined as statistically significant. Results: High-intensity resistance per se and low-intensity resistance exercise with BFR similarly resulted in a non-significant reduction of IL-6 and elevated levels of MMP-9 serum levels in active young men. Conclusions: Overall, the results indicated that a low-intensity resistance exercise session with restricted blood flow and a high-intensity resistance exercise without blood flow restriction equally did not affect IL6 and MMP9 serum of active young men. Further studies are needed to clarify the exact exercise modality that sufficiently stimulates angiogenesis.