Effect of aerobic exercise on dendritic cell function in allergic airway inflammation
Final Report Abstract
In this project we investigated the influence of aerobic exercise on the distribution and function of dendritic cells in the context of allergic airway inflammation. As a first approach we used the classical animal model of ovalbumin-induced asthma. However, in contrast to previous studies we observed only a modest reduction of airway inflammation in animals submitted to the exercise program. Consecutively, there were no significant differences concerning the maturation status of pulmonary dendritic cells between the exercise and the control group. In accordance, dendritic cells generated from mice submitted to aerobic exercise did not differ from dendritic cells generated from control animals with respect to cytokine secretion, maturation or T cell priming capacity. However, in the animal model of house dust mite extract induced asthma aerobic exercise led to decreased airway inflammation. We were also interested whether an aerobic exercise training program could have an effect on the number or distribution of dendritic cells in patients with bronchial asthma or healthy controls. Interestingly, total cell count in the BAL fluid was reduced in asthmatics after the training program whereas no changes were seen in the control group, suggesting an antiinflammatory effect of aerobic exercise. Nevertheless, we did not detect significant changes in the absolute number or the distribution of dendritic cells in the BAL fluid or in peripheral blood. In summary, though we failed to demonstrate a direct effect of aerobic exercise training on the number, distribution of function of dendritic cells we could still show that aerobic exercise has at least some anti-inflammatory properties in patients with bronchial asthma. Hence, larger clinical trials exploring the effects of aerobic exercise on airway inflammation and clinical outcomes would be of great interest.
