CHAMPAIGN, Ill., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- A U.S. study suggests moderate physical exercise results in decreased inflammation of damaged skin tissue.

   "The key point of the study is that moderate exercise sped up how fast wounds heal in old mice," said University of Illinois researcher K. Todd Keylock, who noted the improved healing response "might be the result of an exercise-induced anti-inflammatory response in the wound."

   Keylock, now a professor at Bowling Green (Ohio) State University, conducted the research as a doctoral student while working with UI Professor Jeffrey Woods.

   While previous research conducted at Ohio State University demonstrated a correlation between wound healing response time and moderate exercise, that research did not reveal a physiological cause for the reaction.

   "That's the key part that our study adds -- that the acceleration and healing were associated with decreased levels of inflammation," Keylock said.

   The study, which included predoctoral fellow Victoria Vieira, postdoctoral student Megan Schrementi, and Professors Matthew Wallig and Luisa DiPietro, appears in the online edition of the American Journal of Physiology.
 
 

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