A single bout of fatiguing aerobic exercise induces similar pronounced immunological responses in both sexes.
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Date
2022
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Abstract
Introduction: Physical exercise can acutely and chronically modulate immunological
responses. Women and men have different innate and adaptive immune responses, and
in this sense, these two groups may also have different acute immunological responses
induced by exercise. In addition, it is essential to understand further whether the effects of
physical exercise on the immune system responses depend on sex because limited scientific
evidence on this topic is available. This information may allow athletes and coaches to improve
the training process, mainly to understand if the physiological impact of given training stimuli in
women is similar to that in men.
Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the acute effects of continuous
submaximal exercise until fatigue on physiological and immunological parameters in
amateur female and male runners.
Methods: This study included 18 female and 15 male volunteers. Each participant visited the
laboratory on four consecutive days. The first visit consisted of medical history taking and
explaining the study design. On the second visit, the participants were subjected to an
incremental test to determine their maximal rate of oxygen consumption (VO2max) that was
required to prescribe the intensity of the submaximal exercise protocol. On the third visit, the
fatiguing exercise protocol was performed at 77%–80% of the VO2max. During this
submaximal exercise, the heart rate, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and blood lactate
were recorded. Blood samples were collected before, immediately after, and 1 h after the
fatiguing protocol to analyze the plasma levels of cytokines and creatine kinase (CK) and to
count leukocytes. Finally, on the fourth visit, the participants underwent physical evaluations to
measure their body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) imaging. Results: The average ages of the female and male groups were 34.2 ± 3.7 and 30.5 ±
4.3 years old, respectively. The female group ran 57 ± 27 min, while the male group ran 52 ±
15 min before fatiguing. In the female group, when comparing before and after the submaximal
exercise, marked increases were observed in the following variables: heart rate (from 68.5 to
180.4 bpm), RPE (from 3.6 to 8.2), lactate (from 2.1 to 4.49 mmol/L), and CK (from 89.5 to
126.3 U/L). In addition, the female group showed an increased number of total leukocytes
(from 7222.3 to 11162.9 × 106
/μl), neutrophils (from 4,403 to 6,480 × 106
/μl), and
lymphocytes (from 2,342 ± to 3,562 × 106
/μl) from pre- to post-submaximal exercise. In
the male group, similar elevations in psychophysiological variables were observed, as
evidenced by comparing the heart rate (from 52.8 to 184.1 bpm), RPE (from 0.0 to 8.9),
lactate (from 2.7 to 7.2 mmol/L), and CK (from 106.2 to 165 U/L) before and after the
submaximal exercise. The male group also showed an augmented number of total leukocytes
(from 6,245 to 8,050 × 106
/μl), neutrophils (from 3,335 to 4,128 × 106
/), and lymphocytes
(from 2,191 to 3,212 × 106
/μl) when comparing pre- and post-submaximal exercise. There
were no differences in the changes between women and men for these parameters.
Conclusion: The aerobically fatiguing exercise protocol induced pronounced changes in
the heart rate, plasma levels of lactate and CK, total leukocyte count, especially the number
of neutrophils and lymphocytes, in both sexes. The fatiguing exercise protocol also changed
the plasma levels of IL-6 and IL-10 in the female and male groups. Under the present
conditions, the physiological changes induced by fatiguing submaximal exercise, including
the immunological changes, were not influenced by sex. This study shows that the same
aerobic physical exercise can alter immunological parameters in women and men, and this
response is similar between sexes.
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Keywords
Immune response, Myokines, Skeletal muscle tissue, Physical exercise - running, Immunomodulation
Citation
LOBO, L. F. et al. A single bout of fatiguing aerobic exercise induces similar pronounced immunological responses in both sexes. Frontiers in Physiology, v. 13, jun. 2022. Disponível em: <https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2022.833580/full>. Acesso em: 11 out. 2022.