New research published in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that long-term participation in endurance exercise may help train the immune system to function better and age more slowly.
The study focused on natural killer cells, which are white blood cells that target cells infected with viruses as well as cancer cells. The researchers collected natural killer cells from nine different individuals with an average age of 64 years old. The individuals were divided into two groups: one group was untrained, while the other group had been participating in endurance exercise for 20 years or more before the start of the study. After the natural killer cells were collected from the participants, the cells were exposed to various stimuli to measure their function, efficiency, inflammatory response, and metabolism. Previous research has shown that obesity and a sedentary lifestyle can have a negative impact on the immune system, and this study sought to determine whether long-term endurance exercise might have the opposite effect and provide benefits to the immune system.
The results showed that the immune cells of the trained endurance athletes had a better, more efficient response in the face of an inflammatory challenge, suggesting that the athletes had better control of inflammation than the non-athletes. The results further showed that the cells of the endurance athletes had greater metabolic control and adaptability than those of non-athletes. Finally, the cells of the endurance athletes were more able to resist low-grade inflammation associated with aging, effectively indicating that their immune systems were aging more slowly.
The authors of the study noted that these results suggest that exercise essentially trains the immune system to function more efficiently and perform better when facing inflammatory challenges. Overall, these results indicate that exercise, particularly long-term cardiovascular exercise, may benefit the immune system and lead to better overall health.
Sources: Scientific Reports, Science Daily