Effects of Exercise Training on the Autonomic Nervous System with a Focus on Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidants Effects

Abstract

Studies show that the autonomic nervous system (ANS) has an important impact on health in general. In response to environmental demands, homeostatic processes are often compromised, therefore determining an increase in the sympathetic nervous system (SNS)’s functions and a decrease in the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS)’s functions. In modern societies, chronic stress associated with an unhealthy lifestyle contributes to ANS dysfunction. In this review, we provide a brief introduction to the ANS network, its connections to the HPA axis and its stress responses and give an overview of the critical implications of ANS in health and disease—focused specifically on the immune system, cardiovascular, oxidative stress and metabolic dysregulation. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA), the SNS and more recently the PNS have been identified as regulating the immune system. The HPA axis and PNS have anti-inflammatory effects and the SNS has been shown to have both pro- and anti-inflammatory effects. The positive impact of physical exercise (PE) is well known and has been studied by many researchers, but its negative impact has been less studied. Depending on the type, duration and individual characteristics of the person doing the exercise (age, gender, disease status, etc.), PE can be considered a physiological stressor. The negative impact of PE seems to be connected with the oxidative stress induced by effort.

Autonomic Function Recovery in Post-Covid-19 Young Adults After Immunization: An Observational Follow up Case-control Study

“…Additionally, increases in SNS activity are associated with the secretion of catecholamines that increase metabolism and cardiac activity, which overall work to increase cardiac stress (39). Increases in biomarkers indicating oxidative stress have also been observed in association with COVID-19 and flu-like infections (3,12,40). The PNS's influence on anti-inflammatory and restorative processes are also inhibited (41).…”

“…PA helps to modulate the release of anti-inflammatory factors, and thus may aid in immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Specific immune cell activities are regulated by the ANS, where dysfunction in the regulatory system can lead to inadequate immune stimulation (12). In response, there are accumulation of reactive nitrogenous species (RNS) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) at the site of cell damage, where persistent inflammation can lead to cellular oxidative damage and damage to the infected host (48).…”

“…Autonomic modulation was shown to be impaired even in young adults short after mild and moderate COVID-19 (8)(9)(10). The presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus within the carotid body, can be a possible mechanism explaining the observed silent hypoxemia and thus providing a pathway for nervous system infiltration and the subsequent ANS dysfunction (2,8,11,12). Also, disruption in autonomic regulation by a viral pathogen is associated with a cytokine storm immune response, which results in oxidative stress leading to cell damage (13).…”

role of yoga philosophy in human excellence

“…The following yoga generates balanced energy that is important to the performance of the immune system. Yoga ends up in an inhibition of the posterior or sympathetic space of the hypothalamus 17 . This inhibition optimizes the body's sympathetic responses to disagreeable stimuli and restores involuntary regulative reflex mechanisms related to stress 18 .…”

Sexual dimorphism in the neuro-endocrine regulation of bicycle ergometric test parameters in untrained individuals with dysfunction of the neuro-endocrine-immune complex

“…There are age-and sexspecific norm values [37] that can be used to judge whether differences or changes are within the normal range or can be considered significant. In addition, cardiorespiratory fitness is considered an attribute of health in general and non-specific resistance in particular [2,9,12,15], and is also an important target of adaptogenic agents [21,27,30,[48][49][50].…”