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

ABSTRACT

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-1ß (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.