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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Measuring Granulocyte and Monocyte Phagocytosis and Oxidative Burst Activity in Human Blood
Published on: September 12, 2016
Reduced maximal oxygen consumption and overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines in athletes
Mauro Vaisberg1, Marco Tulio de Mello, Marília Cerqueira Leite Seelaender
1Department of Medicine, Baixada Santista Campus, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. maurovaisberg@uol.com.br
Objective:
It was the aim of this study to evaluate whether chronic pain in athletes is related to performance, measured by the maximum oxygen consumption and production of hormones and cytokines.
Methods:
Fifty-five athletes with a mean age of 31.9 +/- 4.2 years engaged in regular competition and showing no symptoms of acute inflammation, particularly fever, were studied. They were divided into 2 subgroups according to the occurrence of pain. Plasma concentrations of adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol, prolactin, growth hormone and dopamine were measured by radioimmunoassay, and the production of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-alpha and prostaglandin E(2) by whole-blood culture. Maximal oxygen consumption was determined during an incremental treadmill test.
Results:
There was no change in the concentration of stress hormones, but the athletes with chronic pain showed a reduction in maximum oxygen consumption (22%) and total consumption at the anaerobic threshold (25%), as well as increased cytokine production. Increases of 2.7-, 8.1-, 1.7- and 3.7-fold were observed for IL-1, IL-2, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-alpha, respectively.
Conclusions:
Our data show that athletes with chronic pain have enhanced production of proinflammatory cytokines and lipid mediators and reduced performance in the ergospirometric test.
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