Post-retirement effect of long time training of elite sportmen on immune functions or risk factors.

1992 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 02808020
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: 体育学
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: HOSOKAWA Jun-ichi Univ. of Tsukuba, Health and sport science, Prof., 体育科学系, 教授 (40015714)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TAGAMI Kazumi Univ. of Tsukuba, Health and sport sci., Assist prof, 体育科学系, 講師 (40171566)
• Project Period (FY): 1990 – 1992
• Keywords: Cytotoxicity / Natural killer cell / Exersize / Training / Swimming / Rat

Research Abstract

We have studied a post-retirement effect of long time hard training of elite sport person on immune functions. Immunologic merit by the exercise training are controversial. We proposed here one new approach to know the benefit of exercise on natural killer (NK) cell activity.
The trained rats were offered 30 min warm water swimming, 4 times in a week, while the sedentary control animals exposed to warm shallow water same manner as the trained ones. These were tested their splenic NK cell activity against human lymphoma, K-562 cells. Half of both groups of rats were intra-peritonialy administered 50 mg/kg of Cyclosporin A, the immuno-suppressive agent, and the rest were administered same volume of vehicle (saline) 24 hours before NK testing.
No difference of the NK activity was observed between the trained and the sedentary animals without immuno-suppressive agent. The trained animals with immuno-suppression presented significantly higher (P < 0.05) NK cell activity (23.1 * 2.4 %) than the sedentary ones (14.4 * 5.0 %).
Our index had strict relation between exercise and NK cell activity. Thus, the increased resistance to the agent will cross react with the behavioral immuno-suppressors such as stressful environment exposure.