Outdoor Endurance Training with Air Pollutant Exposure Versus Sedentary Lifestyle: A Comparison of Airway Immune Responses.

Juliana De Melo Batista Dos Santos,Luiz Antonio Luna Junior,Catherine Machado Katekaru,Jônatas Do Bussador Amaral,Francine Maria De Almeida,Marcelo Rossi,Rodolfo De Paula Vieira,Dominique Magdalena A Bullens,Matheus Cavalcante De Sá,Andre Luis Lacerda Bachi,Anne-Charlotte Jonckheere,Roberta Foster,Mauro Vaisberg,Lucas Guimarães Pagani

doi:10.3390/ijerph16224418

Abstract

Although regular exercise-training improves immune/inflammatory status, the influence of air pollutants exposure during outdoor endurance training compared to a sedentary lifestyle has not yet been clarified. This study aimed to compare the immune/inflammatory responses in the airways of street runners and sedentary people after acute and chronic particulate matter (PM) exposure. Forty volunteers (street runners (RUN, n = 20); sedentary people (SED, n = 20)) were evaluated 1 (acute) and 10 (chronic) weeks after PM exposure. Cytokines [interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, IL-13, and IL-17A] in nasal lavage fluid, salivary antibacterial peptides (lactoferrin (LTF), cathelicidin (LL-37), defensin-α 1–3), and secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA), plasma club cell protein (CC16), and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) were analyzed. After acute exposure, the RUN group showed lower levels of IL-13, IL-10, and FeNO, but higher defensin-α than the SED group. After chronic exposure, the RUN group showed elevation of IFN-γ, IL-10, IL-17A, and a decrease of FeNO levels, whereas the SED group showed elevation of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and a decrease of IL-13 levels. Comparing these groups, the RUN group showed higher levels of SIgA and LTF, and lower FeNO levels than the SED group. In relation to the Th immune response analysis after acute and chronic PM exposure, the RUN group showed a pattern associated with Th1, while in the SED group, a Th2 pattern was found. Both groups showed also a Th17 immune response pattern. Our results allow us to suggest that the immune/inflammatory status of the respiratory tract after acute and chronic PM exposure was improved by the long-standing regular practice of outdoor endurance exercise compared to a sedentary lifestyle.

Highlights

It is widely accepted that air pollution represents the biggest environmental risk to health, mainly associated with the development of respiratory tract illness [1]
All volunteers were recruited through electronic media using the Press Office of the Federal University of São Paulo and through sports advisers and athletes registered at Corpore, a non-profit entity
No differences were found in the other physical characteristics between the groups

Summary

Introduction

It is widely accepted that air pollution represents the biggest environmental risk to health, mainly associated with the development of respiratory tract illness [1]. Organization (WHO) [2], the increasing number of acute air pollution episodes in many cities around the world has been worrying, which leads to a significant excess of mortality or morbidity. Among several pollutants, including nitrogen oxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxides, the most frequently used as an indicator of exposure to air pollution, in general, is the particulate matter (PM) [2,3]. The deleterious effect of particulate pollution has been reported to be associated with its particle size and/or chemical composition, as well as the physical properties of the particles (including mass, volume, surface area, and the number of particles), which may influence their retention in the lung [7]

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