Race in a hot environment changes the leukocyte profile in healthy trained subjects

• Autor(a) principal: Silva-Filho, Antonio Carlos
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Dias, Carlos José, Costa, Herikson Araújo, Mostarda, Cristiano Teixeira, Navarro, Francisco, Sevilio de Oliveira Jr., Mário N.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Scientia Medica (Porto Alegre. Online)
• Texto Completo: https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/scientiamedica/article/view/22380
• topic: leukocytosis; body temperature regulation; running.; leucocitose; termoregulação; corrida.

Aims: To assess the effects of an outdoor race of 15 km in a hot environment on leukocyte kinetics in healthy trained men.Methods: The sample consisted of 14 men who participated in a recreational race group. Volunteers who said they were able to run a minimum distance of 15 km, were not taking any immunosuppressants, and had no infectious disease were included in the study. The exclusion criteria were the following: hypertension at rest before the race, history of musculoskeletal, metabolic and/or cardiovascular diseases, and failure to finish the race. Venous blood samples were collected before and after the race for determination of hematocrit levels and immune cell count by immunocytochemistry.Results: An increase in total leukocyte and neutrophil count was observed after the race (9.31±2.4 x 10³ cells/µL and 7.64±3.4 x 10³ cells/µL, respectively) compared to the pre-race period (5.52±0.2 x 10³ cells/µL and 2.90±0.6 x 103 cells/µL, respectively), (p<0.05). There was a decrease in lymphocyte and eosinophil count after the race (1.34±0.3x10³ and 0.36±0.2x10³ cells/µL, respectively) compared to the pre-race period (1.67±0.3x10³ and 0.22±0.1x10³ cells/µL, respectively) (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in monocyte and basophil count after the race (0.45±0.1x10³ and 0.9±0.3x10³ cells/µL, respectively) compared to the pre-race period (0.40±0.08x10³ and 0.8±0.3x10³ cells/µL, respectively) (p>0.05).Conclusions: The 15-km outdoor race in a hot environment led to a typical leukocyte kinetics, resulting in leukocytosis owing to the increase in neutrophil count as well as to a decrease in lymphocyte and eosinophil count in healthy trained men. These findings shed some further light upon exercise-induced leukocytosis and may indicate the level of stress produced by exercise under extreme environmental conditions.