Immune system

Question 1

due to training what are athletes at higher risk of

Answer 1

URTI - upper respiratory tract infection

Question 2

why are athletes are greater risk of URTI

Answer 2

travel, cold training, , ^ lung ventilation (increase exposure to pathogens)

bad sleep, high stress (depress immune function)

Question 3

how does exercise interacted with illness

Answer 3

more exercise eg marathons ^ illness

more exercise in the elderly decrease illness risk

Question 4

Exercise and illness link (graph)

Answer 4

sub elite - ^ risk at high intensity (J shape)

elite - still increase risk but lower (S shape)

moderate intensity is optimal for decreasing risk

Question 5

how does exercise effect circulating immune cells (graph)

Answer 5

^ all (leukocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes) but then numbers decrease following initial spike then neutrophils & leukocytes climb again

Biphasic Leucocytosis = first spike

Question 6

why does exercise ^ immune cell circulation (early stages)

Answer 6

^ blood flow = ^ shear stress & ^ catecholamines = decrease adherence (immune cells taken off vessel walls - demargination)

Question 7

why does exercise ^ immune cell circulation (late stages)

Answer 7

CNS triggered leads to activation & eventually mobilisation of neutrophils from bone marrow

Question 8

what does the drop in lymphocyte levels mean following initial spike from exercise? (lymphocytopenia)

Answer 8

falling below baseline level = a window for risk of infection or they are moving to where they need to be? (unknown)

Question 9

how do neutrophils respond to acute exercise?

Answer 9

increase levels but decrease degranulation (decreased function)

Question 10

how do neutrophils respond to training?

Answer 10

levels drop following an intense training week (depletion of mature neutrophils) = ^ infection risk as immature ones are less effective

Question 11

how does exercise influence lymphocyte proliferation?

Answer 11

temporarily decrease post exercise (^ illness risk)

Question 12

why does exercise decrease lymphocytes proliferation

Answer 12

due to increased cortisol levels (from exercise)

Question 13

how does severe exercise effect cell medicated immunity?

Answer 13

supresses cell mediated immunity significantly (less inflammation)

(ex triathletes compare to non athletes in an antigen test)

Question 14

Cell and humoral immunity key cells produced for each?

Answer 14

Cell = IGN-y

Humoral = IL-4

Question 15

how does exercise effect IL-4 & IFN-y and what does it mean?

Answer 15

IL-4 unchanged

IFN-y decreases

means exercise increase cell mediated immunity but not humoral

Question 16

practical advice examples for reduce illness risk

Answer 16

mask, wash hands, own water bottle, brush teeth, greater awareness, sleep, balanced diet ect

Question 17

should you exercise with an infection & what to do after?

Answer 17

no as it may increase severity or duration of the illness

don’t resume training at same level after & isolate from infected others

Question 18

how does exercise effect iGA

Answer 18

reduces it increasing risk of URTI a lot

more training = more decrease

Question 19

how does exercise effect CD8 T cells

Answer 19

decrease them meaning there are less in the blood to fight disease

Question 20

what do you need to train intensely?

Answer 20

take CHO during exercise which:
- prevents cortisol & adrenaline

• maintain blood glucose
• prevents IFN-y

Question 21

what is DALDA

Answer 21

daily analysis of life demands for athletes - rate statements eg muscle pains, sleep, boredom ect

Question 22

what does Quercetin supplementation do?

Answer 22

greater increase of proliferation of WBC’s

much lower risk of URTI

Question 23

what does Non-acholic beer supplementation

Answer 23

potentially reduce risk of URTI

Question 24

what are probiotics?

Answer 24

live microorganisms that modified gut bacteria

Question 25

how do probiotics effect infection risk?

Answer 25

decreases risk of infection and maintains levels of salivary iGA

Question 26

how does a high protein diet effect infection risk when training hard

Answer 26

no significant decrease when compared to a normal diet

WBC & CD8 T cell levels maintained

Question 27

which supplements have strong evidence for decreasing infection risk (others need more evidence)

Answer 27

Zinc lozenges (decrease viral activity)

Vitamin C

Probiotics

Vitamin D (needed in winter)