Objective Inflammatory processes may play an important role in the development of acute coronary syndromes in people with type 2 diabetes; thus, strategies to control inflammation are of clinical importance. We examined the cross-sectional association between objectively assessed physical activity and inflammatory markers in a sample of people with type 2 diabetes.

Methods Participants were 71 men and 41 women (mean age=63.9±7 years), without a history of cardiovascular disease, drawn from primary care clinics. Physical activity was objectively measured using waist-worn accelerometers (Actigraph GT3X) during waking hours for seven consecutive days.

Results We observed inverse associations between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (per 10 min) with plasma interleukin-6 (B=−0.035, 95% CI −0.056 to −0.015), interleukin-1ra (B=−0.033, 95% CI −0.051 to −0.015), and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (B=−0.011, 95% CI −0.021 to 0.000). These associations largely persisted in multivariable adjusted models, although body mass index considerably attenuated the effect estimate.

Conclusions These data demonstrate an inverse association between physical activity and inflammatory markers in people with type 2 diabetes.