Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is closely linked to chronic inflammation, with biomarkers such as hsCRP, IL-6, and copeptin playing key roles in disease progression. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR), particularly exercise-based programmes, has shown promising results in reducing these inflammatory markers and improving cardiovascular outcomes. This review examines how CR influences inflammatory cardiac markers and supports long-term cardiovascular health.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of cardiac rehabilitation on inflammatory cardiac markers in CAD patients and assess how different exercise protocols influence these outcomes. The goal is to identify which biomarkers respond most consistently to CR and how these changes correlate with clinical improvements.

Method: A Narrative review was conducted using studies involving exercise-based CR in CAD patients. Included studies measured biomarkers such as hsCRP, IL-6, and copeptin. Both randomised controlled trials and observational studies were considered.

Results: 12 RCT’s were included in the study that suggested that there is reduction in inflammatory biomarkers in CAD patients after exercise training.

Conclusion: Exercise based cardiac rehabilitation significantly reduces inflammatory markers in CAD patients, with improvements observed across various exercise types and durations. HIIT and longer programmes show enhanced effects.

Keywords: Cardiac rehabilitation, coronary artery disease, inflammatory markers, exercise therapy.

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Saili Amonkar

Lecturer, Vydehi Institute of Physiotherapy, Bangalore