Effect of exercise on gene expression profile in unfractionated peripheral blood leukocytes

A 4-h bout of exercise induces immunomodulatory effects. Peripheral blood was withdrawn before, and at 4, 8 and 24h after the start of exercise. RNA from the unfractionated white blood cells was analyzed using Agilent human 44K microarray. The expression profiles were sorted into seven clusters based on their unique time-dependent kinetics. In a separate experiment, cell-specific markers were collected and compared among the members in each cluster. Two clusters were assigned as representing neutrophils, one as NK cells, and another mostly as T cells. Three clusters seemed to be mixtures of several cell types. Extension of this approach to other systems is discussed.