Differential Th Cell-Related Immune Responses in Young Physically Active Men after an Endurance Effort

Abstract

The participation of T cell subsets in the modulation of immunity in athletes triggered by maximal effort was investigated. In total, 80 physically active young men (range 16–20 years) were divided into 5 age groups: 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 years old. They performed efficiency tests on mechanical treadmills until exhaustion. White blood cell (WBC) and lymphocyte (LYM) counts were determined, and the type 1 (Th1), type 2 (Th2) helper T cells, T helper 17 (Th17), and T regulatory (Treg) cell distribution and plasma levels of selected cytokines were analyzed. An increase in WBC and LYM counts after the test and in Th1 and Treg cells after the test and in recovery was observed. There were no changes in Th2 cells. An increase in interleukins (IL): IL-2 and IL-8 was observed. The IL-6 level was altered in all studied groups. IL-17A and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) levels were increased in all studied groups. The mechanism of differential T cell subset activation may be related to athletes’ age. The novel findings of this study are the involvement of Th17 cells in post-effort immune responses and the participation of IL-6 in post-effort and the long-term biological effect of endurance effort.

Post-match recovery profile of leukocyte cell subsets among professional soccer players

“…If leukocytopenia, including lymphocytopenia manifested after a soccer match, the recovery period compensated for it since it was not observed in our study. Similarly, in our previous study no leukocyto- and lymphocytopenia was found 17 h after a maximal exercise bout among professional soccer players 32 and physically active young men 44 . Although previous studies suggest that neutrophils are mobilized in response to exercise-induced muscle damage 5 , 24 , we did not observe significant changes in total WBC counts or in granulocyte distribution in subjects after post-match recovery.…”

“…Simpson postulated that the number of lymphocytes usually reaches a resting value in the peripheral blood up to 24 h after exercise 47 . However, our previous studies showed that the peripheral blood lymphocyte distribution in young, physically active men 17 h after progressive effort 32 , 44 significantly differed from pre-exercise values. Navalta et al also showed changes in the distribution of Th and Tc cells following 3-day, high-intensity interval exercises, which resulted from pro-apoptotic pathway activation and lymphocyte migration from lymphoid tissues to the peripheral blood 28 .…”

“…The role of T cells and their subsets are critical in the immune response. Th cells help facilitate inflammation as a post-effort, long-term biological effect 31 , 32 , 44 . Brown et al indicate that T cells, and particularly their Th subset, are among the first components of the immune response activated as a biological response to physical exercise 46 .…”

Post-Effort Changes in Autophagy- and Inflammation-Related Gene Expression in White Blood Cells of Healthy Young Men

“…The participants were general morphologically and physiologically characterized before the study according to a protocol described previously [25] and the parameters are presented in Table 1. The body mass, body mass index (BMI), basal metabolic rate (BMR), percentage of fat (FAT), fat mass (FAT MASS), and total body water (TBW) were determined using a Body Composition Analyzer (Tanita BC-418MA, Tokyo, Japan).…”

“…This is an important mechanism of regulation of general inflammation induced by various biological factors. The role of Th and Treg cell subsets in modulation of the immune response to endurance effort is well described [22][23][24][25][26]. It is also known that T lymphocyte metabolism is directly controlled by signaling pathways responsible for the activity of these cells and their survival in response to stress stimuli [27].…”