Exercise in, and adaptations to a cold environment have no effect on SIgA

The authors hypothesized that inconsistent SIgA response to exercise is caused by the different adaptative status of subjects to a cold environment. The purposes of the study were to examine whether moderate-intense exercise in a cold environment decreases SIgA and whether adaptation to a cold environment has any effect on SIgA.

Young male skaters, short track (N=9) and inline (N=10), participated in this study. All subjects cycled for 60 min at 65% VO(2max) in cold (ambient temperature: 5 +or - 1 degrees Celsius, relative humidity 41 + or - 9%) and thermoneutral (ambient temperature: 21 + or - 1 degrees Celsius, relative humidity 35 + or - 5%) conditions. Saliva samples were collected as follows: before and after 1hour of environmental exposure; immediately, 30-min, 60-min and 120-min after the exercise.

Salivary SIgA and saliva flow rate decreased after the exercise in both groups only in thermoneutral conditions. The SIgA secretion rate did not decrease after moderate-high intensity exercise in a cold environment, and the SIgA response to exercise was not affected by the different adaptative status of subjects to the cold environment.