Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 71, Issue 3 1089-1097, Copyright © 1991 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Circulating mononuclear cell numbers and function during intense exercise and recovery

C. J. Field, R. Gougeon and E. B. Marliss
McGill Nutrition and Food Science Centre, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

To investigate the effect of intense exercise on immune function, 12 healthy males (26 +/- 1 yr) underwent cycle exercise to exhaustion at 80% maximum work load. One hour later, six of the subjects underwent a second identical bout. Blood was drawn preexercise (C), at exhaustion (Ex-1, Ex-2), and at 1 h of recovery (Rec-1, Rec-2). At Ex-1 and Ex-2, total leukocytes (monocytes, neutrophils, and lymphocytes) increased significantly (P less than 0.05), and all returned to C levels by Rec-1 except lymphocytes, which were lower than at C. At Rec-2 total leukocytes remained higher (P less than 0.05) than at C, primarily because of elevated neutrophil counts. Phenotype analysis indicated a 2.5-fold increase in CD16+ (natural killer) cells at Ex-1 and a decrease primarily in CD4+ (T-helper) cells. All phenotype changes returned to C levels at Rec-1. At Ex-1 the in vitro mitogenic response to concanavalin A, phorbol myristate acetate + ionomycin, phytohemagglutinin, and pokeweed mitogen decreased (P less than 0.05) but returned to levels not different from C at Rec-1. Both the in vitro percent specific lysis of a target natural killer cell (K562) and the lytic activity per cell increased (P less than 0.05) in peripheral mononuclear cells at Ex-1, returning to C levels at Rec-1. The total leukocyte counts with exercise were significantly correlated with plasma epinephrine concentration, and a causal effect is thus possible. Such acute changes in numbers and function of circulating cells of the immune system may possibly have functional and clinical correlates.

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