Effect of intensive training on immune system cells in elite female weightlifters.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of intense weightlifting training on lymphocyte and natural killer cell subgroups, which are the major cells of the immune system, in elite female weightlifters. A total of 20 elite female weightlifters were evaluated using flow cytometry before training (pre-T), immediately after training (post-T), and after a 120-min rest period (rest-T). Post-T and rest-T showed significant decreases in helper T (Th) and cytotoxic T compared with pre-T (p=0.045, p<0.001 and p=0.05, p<0.001, respectively). B and natural killer cells were higher in post-T and rest-T than in pre-T. The increase in B cells was significant in pre-T/rest-T (p<0.001) but not in pre-T/post-T (p=0.122). Intense training significantly increased natural killer cells in both post-T and rest-T (p<0.001). CD56bright and CD56dim natural killer cell subgroups were significantly lower in post-T and rest-T than in pre-T (p=0.005, p=0.006 and p<0.001, p=0.004, respectively). This study shows that intense weightlifting alters peripheral lymphocyte and natural killer subgroup ratios, being the first investigation in this field.