The immunology of exercise. A brief review
H. B. Simon
Many athletes believe that habitual exercise protects them against
infection. This article reviews ten studies of the effects of exercise on
various host-defense factors. Exercise produced a transient granulocytosis
and lymphocytosis, and in some studies, lymphocyte function was reported to
have been enhanced. Serum immunoglobulin and complement levels were not
significantly altered in the small number of subjects studied. Two recent
studies showed that exercise produced an increase in circulating endogenous
pyrogen in man. Since it now appears that endogenous pyrogen is identical
to interleukin-1, a product of mononuclear cells that enhances lymphocyte
function, it may play a role in host defense. Further studies will be
needed before it can be concluded that exercise effects the host response
to infection in any clinically meaningful way.
