ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL MEDICINE 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2018 October;58(10):1519-24

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.17.07202-4

Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Variation in plasma cytokine concentration during a training season in elite kayakers

Grasiely F. BORGES ^{1, 2}, Luis RAMA ¹, Humberto M. CARVALHO ³, Joana GASPAR ⁴, Amandio SANTOS ¹, Alain MASSART ¹, Beatriz GOMES ¹, Luciele G. MINUZZI ¹, Artur PAIVA ⁵, Ana M. TEIXEIRA ¹ ✉

¹ Center for Sport and Physical Activity, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; ² Federal University of Southern Bahia, Ferradas, Itabuna, Brazil; ³ Faculty of Physical Education, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil; ⁴ Laboratory of Cell Signaling, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil; ⁵ Flow Cytometry Unit-Clinical Pathology Service, University Hospital Center of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in cytokines levels in the peripheral blood of kayakers at different moments of training.
METHODS: The sample comprised 12 elite kayakers preparing for the Beijing Olympic Games. Blood samples were collected at different time points of the training season: baseline (t0-November) after 6 weeks of off-training and before the start of the training season; t1 (January) at week 11 after a period of high-volume training; t2 (April) at week 26 at the end of a period of high intensity training sessions; t3 (June) at week 31 after a competitive period.
RESULTS: Decreases in cytokine levels were found for IL-1β and IL-18 at t1. IL-1 then increased throughout the remaining training season while IL-18 leveled off towards the end of the season. IL-1ra showed an exponential increase at t2 before leveling-off in the last period of training. No significant changes were found for IL-6, IFN-γ and TNF-α. No differences were observed in the magnitude and pattern of cytokines changes across the training season between the elite female and male kayakers.
CONCLUSIONS: Increases in training volume were able to induce decreases in pro-inflammatory plasma cytokine coinciding with the reported increase in upper respiratory tract infections in the kayakers.

KEY WORDS: Athletes - Cytokines - Respiratory system