Leukocyte Responsiveness to Exercise in Individuals Positive for Human Cytomegalovirus

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infects 50% of adults in the United States. HCMV can become a cause for concern in individuals who have a compromised immune system, which may occur after high-intensity exercise. The purpose of this preliminary study was to characterize the lymphocyte, monocyte, and neutrophil responses to exercise in HCMV+individuals. Participants were either positive (HCMV +) or negative (HCMV-) for HCMV. Participants visited the laboratory on 3 separate occasions: HCMV screening, 100% VO2max test, and 80% VO2max run. Mixed-model factorial ANOVA procedures with repeated measures on sampling condition were performed on absolute and relative circulating lymphocytes, monocytes, and neutrophils. Significant main effects for time for both absolute and relative values were seen for all leukocyte subsets regardless of virus status. Significant differences for absolute and relative values were seen between sampling conditions for all leukocyte subsets. We report for the first time that HCMV status does not affect circulating neutrophil responses to high-intensity exercise, though exercise-induced neutrocytosis is seen during the post-exercise and 60 min post-exercise sampling conditions, regardless of HCMV status. There is no HCMV effect on circulating monocyte responses to exercise, though exercise-induced monocytosis was seen during the post-exercise sampling condition regardless of HCMV status.