Effects of high-intensity interval training on biomarkers and inflammatory factors in patients with heart failure: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

TL;DR

This study finds that high-intensity interval training reduces heart failure biomarkers but does not significantly affect inflammatory factors in patients with heart failure.

Contribution

A meta-analysis comparing HIIT with MCT and conventional care in heart failure patients, focusing on biomarker and inflammatory factor changes.

Findings

HIIT significantly reduced BNP and NT-proBNP levels in heart failure patients.

HIIT had no significant effect on CRP, TNF-α, or IL-6 levels.

HIIT improved heart failure biomarkers more than moderate-intensity training or conventional care.

Abstract

There is still controversy about the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on the levels of cardiac and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with heart failure compared with moderate-intensity continuous training (MCT) and conventional healthcare activities. This article is to systematically investigate the effects of HIIT on the levels of cardiac and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with heart failure compared with MCT and conventional healthcare activities.

A computerized search of databases was conducted with the search year from the establishment of the database, and the screened results were subjected to quality assessment and data extraction, and the data was meta-analyzed using RevMan 5.4.1 software.

11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were finally included (7 RCTs about BNP and NT-proBNP, 2 RCTs about inflammatory factors, and 2 RCTs involve both), containing a total of 904 study subjects, 457 in the observation group, and 447 in the control group. Meta-analysis showed that HIIT significantly reduced BNP and NT-proBNP levels in patients with heart failure compared with the control group (SMD = −1.33, 95% CI: −2.55∼−0.11, P = 0.03), while it had no significant effect on the level of CRP (SMD = −0.08, 95% CI: −0.33∼0.18, P = 0.56), TNF-α (MD = −0.11, 95% CI: −0.29∼0.08, P = 0.26), and IL-6 (MD = 0.3, 95% CI: −1.95∼2.55, P = 0.8).

Compared with MCT and conventional healthcare activities, the implementation of HIIT in patients with heart failure can effectively reduce the levels of heart failure biomarkers and improve their health. However, the difference between HIIT and the control group was not significant in the regulation of inflammatory factors.

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/#searchadvanced, PROSPERO CRD42024513099.

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