Type-2 diabetes (T2D) is a metabolic disorder, associated with higher risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and overall mortality. The increases in T2D prevalence expected by 2050 may primarily affect individuals of Latino origin. Inflammation may be the common link between atherosclerosis, obesity and insulin resistance. People with T2D are characterized by high concentrations of inflammatory markers long before the disease onset. In contrast, resistance training (RT) is associated with reduced risk of low grade inflammation related diseases.

The overall purpose of this dissertation is to understand the effect of modifiable lifestyle factors, such as diet or exercise, on inflammatory markers in diseased and healthy populations. First, we examined CVD risk in Latinos diagnosed with T2D and evaluated the effect of diet on inflammatory markers. The second perspective included studying the effect of RT on inflammatory markers in a healthy population. In Study 1, Latinos (n=68) with poorly controlled T2D were grouped according to their concentrations of plasma HDL cholesterol or C reactive protein (CRP). Following classification, risk factors for CVD including apolipoproteins, lipoprotein size and subfraction distribution and key inflammatory markers were assessed. Results demonstrated that Low-HDL and High-CRP can be used as key markers associated with increased risk for atherosclerosis and inflammation in Latinos with T2D. In Study 2 we investigated the relationship between food patterns and plasma inflammatory biomarkers by using reduced rank regression analysis and determined whether this pattern was also associated with risk factors for CVD in this Latino population (n=103). After adjusting for potential confounding factors, Interleukin (IL)-6 (p<0.0001) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (p=0.0002) were associated with a specific dietary pattern. Furthermore, this dietary pattern was also associated with higher risk for CVD in this already challenged population.

In Study 3 we examined the inflammatory response to an acute resistance exercise bout at baseline and after 9 months of resistance training (RT) in healthy untrained young adults (n=10). We demonstrated the effectiveness of a RT program in improving body composition, increasing IL-15 and blunting the exercise-induced TNF-α response. This is relevant to prevent metabolic diseases because chronically elevated plasma TNF-α has detrimental effects on glucose metabolism.