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Despite earlier research demonstrating the immunomodulatory effects of acute and chronic exercise in many medical illnesses, there is a lack of literature evaluating the acute and chronic effects of exercise on the cytokine levels in individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) or schizophrenia (SCH). This study aims to examine the acute effects of resistance exercise on cytokines and the chronic effects of resistance exercise by 10 weeks on cytokine levels, symptoms of disease, and muscular strength in individuals with BD and SCH. The included individuals (N=10) performed a single session of band-elastic resistance exercises (six exercises, 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions, 60 seconds of interval between sets). A sub-sample (N=6) of individuals performed a supervised band-elastic resistance exercise program (2 times a week, for 10 weeks, 6 exercises, 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions, 60 seconds of interval). We verified for acute effects: IL-2 (P=0.0085) and IL-4 (P=0.0253) levels increased, while IL-6 decreased (P=0.0435), and for chronic effects: increased IL-2 and IL-4 levels (significant effect size - Pre vs Post), a decrease in disease symptoms, and an increase in muscular strength. This study adds to what is already known about how resistance exercises affect people with BD and SCH in both short-term (systemic cytokines levels) and long-term (symptoms of disease, muscular strength, and systemic cytokines levels)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ) are the two main mental disorders with unknown etiology that significantly impact individuals' quality of life. The potential pro-inflammatory role in their pathogenesis is postulated and Human Endogenous Retrovirus W (HERV-W) is an emerging candidate to modulate this pathogenic finding. HERVs, ancient retroviruses in the human genome, may play roles in inflammation and disease pathogenesis. Despite HERVs' involvement in autoimmune diseases, their influence on mental disorders remains underexplored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the level of HERV-W-env expression and the systemic inflammatory profile through the concentration of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and INF-γ cytokines in BD and SZ patients., Results: All participants showed HERV-W-env expression, but its expression was higher in mental disorder patients (p < 0.01) than in control. When separated, SZ individuals exhibited higher HERV-W expression than the control group (p < 0.01). Higher serum levels of TNF-α and IL-10 were found in BD (p = 0.0001 and p = 0.001, respectively) and SZ (p = 0.01) and p = 0.01, respectively) than in the control group, while SZ showed decreased levels IFN-γ and IL-2 as compared to controls (p = 0.05) and BD patients (p = 0.05), respectively. Higher TNF-α/IL-4 and TNF-α/IL-10 ratios, and lower IFN-γ/IL-10 were observed in BD and SZ patients than controls. Significant negative correlation between HERV-W-env expression and IL-10 (r=-0.47 p < 0.05), as well as positive correlations between HERV-W-env expression and TNF-α/IL-10 or IFN-γ/IL-10 ratios (r = 0.48 p < 0.05 and r = 0.46 p < 0.05, respectively) were found in BD patients., Conclusion: These findings suggest not only a potential link between HERV-W-env expression both in BD and SZ, but also a possible involvement of systemic inflammatory status in BD patients., (© 2024. The Author(s).)