Exercise has been found to play important roles in regulating
inflammation, although the mechanisms are unclear. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate whether regular exercise could regulate
inflammation through
inflammasome activation signalling in older adults. Five databases were searched, and 19 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) studying effects of regular exercise on
inflammasome activation-related inflammatory
cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and
IL-18 and other key molecules involved in
inflammasome activation signalling such as
NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like
protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC), caspase-1 in older adults aged 50 years or older were included. The results showed that regular exercise could significantly decrease the levels of IL-1β and
IL-18, important end-products of
inflammasome activation in older adults. Subgroup analyses showed that aerobic exercise is the most effective training modality, and low-to-moderate intensity and mixed intensity are better compared with high intensity to decrease IL-1β and
IL-18. The effect of regular exercise on key molecules involved in
inflammasome activation signalling including NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1 is understudied and needs to be further investigated. These findings demonstrate that regular exercise could effectively decrease
inflammasome activation-related inflammatory
cytokine levels in older adults.