Voluntary chronic exercise augments in vivo natural immunity in
rats.
Jonsdottir, Ingibj[diaeresis]org H., Alexzander Asea, Pavel Hoffmann
Ulf I. Dahlgren, Bengt Andersson, Kristoffer Hellstrand, and Peter
Thor[acute]en.
Institute of Physiology and Pharmacology, Department of Physiology
1, Department of Clinical Virology and Clinical Immunology,
G[diaeresis]oteborg University, G[diaeresis]oteborg, Sweden
APStracts 3:0049A, 1996.
The effect of chronic voluntary exercise on the immune response was
studied in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Exercise consisted of
voluntary running in wheels for 5 weeks and the mean running distance
was 4.2 km/24 h. In vivo cytotoxicity was measured as clearance of
injected 51Cr-labeled YAC-1 lymphoma cells from the lungs. The
clearance of YAC-1 cells in vivo was significantly increased in
runners as compared to sedentary controls (p<0.001). The total
amount of mononuclear cells in the spleen was significantly decreased
in runners compared to controls. Analysis of splenic lymphocyte
phenotypes revealed a significantly increased fraction of Ox52+CD5-
NK cells in runners as compared to sedentary controls. In contrast to
changes in natural immunity, immunoglobulin (IgG and IgM) levels in
serum, the antibody response to antigen in vivo, and the
proliferation of splenic T cells in vitro were unchanged. Our data
suggest that chronic voluntary exercise augments natural cytotoxicity
mechanisms in vivo, whereas splenic T cell proliferation and the
antibody-mediated immune response remain unchanged.
Received 25 August 1995; accepted in final form 21 December 1995.
APS Manuscript Number A930-5.
Article publication pending Journal of Applied Physiology.
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 25 January 96