Muscle-Building Exercise Improves Response To Flu Shot

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Muscle-Building Exercise Improves Response To Flu Shot

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=62260

Bicep curls don't just tone your arms: A new study has found that a

brief session of muscle-building exercise before receiving a flu

shot can enhance a person's immune response.

The immune system's reaction differs markedly between men and women,

however, and exactly how exercise influences the process remains

unclear.

" We're trying to find something that could be very simple to do,

which would benefit your vaccine response, " said lead author Kate

, Ph.D., of the University of Birmingham in England.

These findings help confirm an earlier study by ' team, which

showed for the first time that the acute stress of exercise can

increase antibody production in humans. The new study appears in the

February issue of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

The researchers focused on eccentric exercise, which occurs when a

person lowers a heavy weight. This type of exertion consistently

causes a local inflammatory response that includes the arrival of

key immune cells.

In this latest randomized controlled trial, 60 healthy college

students either rested quietly or performed eccentric exercise of

the upper arm for about 25 minutes. Six hours later, all

participants received an injection of flu vaccine, which was donated

by GlaxoKline, UK.

Participants had their blood tested repeatedly over the next five

months to measure the cellular immune response as well as the longer-

lasting development of antibodies to the viruses in the vaccine.

The cell-mediated response remained unchanged in female

participants, while it increased among males. The antibody response

was enhanced in women, but reduced in men.

While these results are less clear than researchers had hoped,

said, they confirm that the inflammatory response to acute

stress plays a key role in the immune system.

Another key question is whether the immune responses measured in the

latest study have clinical significance, according to Marsland,

Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh: " Is somebody better able to

protect themselves from flu if they have slightly higher antibody

levels? " For now, there's no evidence one way or the other.

Nevertheless, said , " If you manage to fit in doing some

exercises before you get your flu shot, that certainly could benefit

you in many ways and might well benefit your vaccination response. "

Brain, Behavior and Immunity: Visit http://www.academicpress.com/bbi.

KM, et al. Eccentric exercise as an adjuvant to influenza

vaccination in humans. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 21(2), 2007.