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Lymphocyte proliferation in response to exercise
1Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre, Department of Infectious Diseases, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Insights
Exercise impacts immune function, but lymphocyte proliferation responses are inconsistent. Measuring lymphocyte proliferation alone is insufficient for assessing the immune system
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Exercise Physiology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Lymphocyte proliferation assays assess immune system function.
- Exercise can influence immune responses, necessitating investigation into its effects on lymphocytes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the literature on lymphocyte proliferative responses to exercise.
- To evaluate the impact of exercise type, intensity, and training status on immune cell function.
Main Methods:
- Review of studies measuring lymphocyte proliferation in response to exercise.
- In vitro stimulation of blood mononuclear cells (BMNC) with mitogens like PHA, PWM, Con-A, IL-2, and PPD.
- Measurement of 3H-thymidine incorporation into DNA to quantify cell proliferation.
Main Results:
- Lymphocyte proliferative responses to exercise are highly variable.
- Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated responses often decrease during exercise, potentially due to reduced CD3+ cells.
- Post-exercise recovery shows varied responses (reduced, elevated, or unchanged) to different mitogens.
- Trained athletes exhibit different responses compared to less fit individuals.
Conclusions:
- Lymphocyte proliferation measurements alone are inadequate for a comprehensive functional assessment of the immune system post-exercise.
- Variability in responses may be linked to factors like the timing of 3H-thymidine incorporation.
- Further research is needed to understand the complex interplay between exercise and immune cell function.
Abstract:
Lymphocyte proliferative responses are often used to evaluate the functional capacity of the immune system in response to exercise. Blood mononuclear cells (BMNC) are stimulated in vitro with polyclonal mitogens and the incorporation of 3H-thymidine into the DNA reflects cell proliferation. The BMNC are most often stimulated with either phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), poke weed mitogen (PWM), concanavalin A (Con-A), interleukin-2 (IL-2), or purified derivative of tuberculin (PPD). The literature concerning lymphocyte proliferation and exercise is reviewed with respect to the type and intensity of exercise, and also the effect of training status. The proliferative responses to exercise are highly heterogeneous, the most consistent finding being that PHA-stimulated cell responses decrease during exercise which may reflect a decreased fraction of CD3+ cells. In contrast, reduced, elevated or even unchanged lymphocyte proliferative response to PHA, PWM, Con-A, IL-2 and PPD have been demonstrated in the recovery period following exercise. Also variable responses are present in trained athletes compared to less fit subjects. Even though this may reflect that the time of 3H-thymidine incorporation into lymphocytes varies, we conclude that a functional evaluation of the immune system in response to exercise cannot be based solely upon measurements of lymphocyte proliferation.