Systemic inflammation and the time spent moving by COPD patients with weight loss

Purpose: Previous studies demonstrated that malnutrition, weight loss, and reduced physical activity are strong predictors of mortality among individuals with advanced COPD, which is known to be a systemic inflammation. We investigated the association between systemic inflammation and the time spent moving by COPD patients with weight loss. Subjects and Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, we evaluated 11 patients with COPD (age 73 ± 7 yrs; 9 men, 2 wamen; BMI: 18.9 ± 2.9kg/m2; FEV1 54.8 ± 22.4% pred) with the use of a triaxial accelerometer (A-MES Activity Monitor, Kumamoto, Japan), measuring the time each patient spent walking, standing, sitting and lying for 3 consecutive days. We also evaluated each patient9s body composition, skeletal muscle strength, exercise tolerance, health-related quality of life, and serum levels of inflammatory cytokines. Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient were used for to determine the single correlations between physical activity and other measurements. Results: The time spent walking was significantly correlated with the fat-free mass index (r=0.726, p=0.017) and interleukin (IL)-8 level (r=0.758, p=0.018). The time spent standing was significantly correlated with the C-reactive protein level (r=0.797, p=0.018) and IL-6 level (r=0.742, p=0.035). Conclusions: These data indicate that to improve the reduced skeletal muscle function of COPD patients with weight loss, it may be effect to increase their physical activity. However, we should consider that the systemic inflammation that may have contributed to the reduction of these patients9 weight may also rise with increased physical activity.