Assessing the anti-inflammatory effects of whole-body vibration: a meta-analysis based on pre-clinical and clinical evidences

Author: Yiying Wang1, Renxin Ji2, Bo Yu1
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shanghai First People&#x27;s Hospital Shanghai 200080, China. <sup>2</sup> Department of Rehabilitation Therapy, Shanghai Sanda University Shanghai 201209, China.
Conference/Journal: Am J Clin Exp Immunol
Date published: 2024 Jun 25
Other: Volume ID: 13 , Issue ID: 3 , Pages: 68-87 , Special Notes: doi: 10.62347/LLGY4023. , Word Count: 259


Background:
Whole-body vibration (WBV) is a commonly used physical exercise for disease prevention and rehabilitation. Recent studies indicated the beneficial mechanism of WBV may be associated with its anti-inflammatory potential, however, its regulatory roles on different inflammatory mediators remained controversial. The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analysis to re-confirm the effects of WBV exercise on various inflammatory factors.

Methods:
The PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases were searched up to September 2023 to collect all articles comparing WBV with control (or post-pre trials). The effect size was expressed as the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results:
A total of 31 eligible studies were included, including 14 pre-clinical and 17 clinical studies. The meta-analysis of pre-clinical studies showed that compared with the control group, WBV exercise could significantly reduce the level of IL-6 (SMD: -1.03, 95% CI: -1.93, -0.13), TNF-α (SMD: -1.36, 95% CI: -2.54, -0.17) (for disease subgroup), IL-1β (SMD: -2.20, 95% CI: -3.24, -1.15), IFN-γ (SMD: -1.91, 95% CI: -2.71, -1.12), IL-4 (SMD: -0.71, 95% CI: -1.39, -0.03) and IL-17 (SMD: -1.32, 95% CI: -2.05, -0.59) overall. Pooling of clinical studies revealed WBV exercise significantly reduced the level of TNF-α (WBV vs control: SMD: -1.11, 95% CI: -2.16, -0.06; post vs pre: SMD: -1.29, 95% CI: -1.91, -0.67), CRP (SMD: -3.59, 95% CI: -6.36, -0.82, P = 0.011) and enhanced the level of IL-10 (WBV vs control: SMD: 2.90, 95% CI: 1.10, 4.71; post vs pre: SMD: 1.75, 95% CI: 0.64, 2.87) and IL-6 (SMD: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.31, 1.52) (healthy subgroup).

Conclusion:
WBV may be an effective prevention and rehabilitation tool for inflammatory diseases.

Keywords: Whole-body vibration; clinical trials; inflammation; meta-analysis; murine models.

PMID: 39022791 PMCID: PMC11249855 DOI: 10.62347/LLGY4023