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Cytokine production by monocytes, neutrophils, and dendritic cells is hampered by long-term intensive training in elite swimmers

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Abstract

Elite level athletes seem to be prone to illness especially during heavy training phases. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of long term intensive training on the functional features of innate immune cells from high competitive level swimmers, particularly the production of inflammatory mediators and the possible relationship with upper respiratory symptoms (URS) occurrence. A group of 18 swimmers and 11 healthy non athletes was studied. Peripheral blood samples were collected from athletes after 36 h of resting recovery from exercise at four times during the training season and at three times from non athletes. Samples were incubated in the presence or absence of LPS and IFN-γ and the frequency of cytokine-producing cells and the amount produced per cell were evaluated by flow cytometry. In addition, plasma cortisol levels were measured and URS recorded through daily logs. The athletes, but not the controls, showed a decrease in the number of monocytes, neutrophils, and dendritic cell (DC) subsets and in the amount of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12, TNF-α, and MIP-1β produced after stimulation, over the training season. Differences were most noticeable between the first and second blood collections (initial increase in training volume). Athlete’s cortisol plasma levels partially correlated with training intensity and could help explain the reduced in vitro cell response to stimulation. Our results support the idea that long-term intensive training may affect the function of innate immune cells, reducing their capacity to respond to acute challenges, possibly contributing to an elevated risk of infection.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grant PTDC/DES/68647/2006 from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology “Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia” (FCT)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Histocompatibility Center, Coimbra, Portugal

    José Mário Morgado, Isabel Silva, Maria de Jesus Inácio, Ana Henriques, Paula Laranjeira, Susana Pedreiro, Maria Luísa Pais & Artur Paiva

  2. Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Research Center for Sport and Physical Activity, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Luís Rama, Fátima Rosado & Ana Maria Teixeira

  3. Faculty of Human Kinetics, Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Francisco Alves

  4. School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

    Michael Gleeson

  5. Centro de Histocompatibilidade do Centro, Edifício São Jerónimo, 4° Piso, Praceta Mota Pinto, 3001-301, Coimbra, Portugal

    Artur Paiva

Authors
  1. José Mário Morgado
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  2. Luís Rama
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  3. Isabel Silva
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  4. Maria de Jesus Inácio
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  5. Ana Henriques
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  6. Paula Laranjeira
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  7. Susana Pedreiro
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  8. Fátima Rosado
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  9. Francisco Alves
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  10. Michael Gleeson
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  11. Maria Luísa Pais
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  12. Artur Paiva
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  13. Ana Maria Teixeira
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Artur Paiva.

Additional information

Communicated by William J. Kraemer.

José Mário Morgado and Luís Rama contributed equally to this work.

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Morgado, J.M., Rama, L., Silva, I. et al. Cytokine production by monocytes, neutrophils, and dendritic cells is hampered by long-term intensive training in elite swimmers. Eur J Appl Physiol 112, 471–482 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-1966-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-1966-4

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