Effect of a Short Maximal Physical Exercise on the Eosinophil Cationic Protein

Abstract

Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) has been shown to be a marker of eosinophil granulocyte activation. In 10 healthy young subjects the plasma concentrations of ECP were measured before and after a graded maximal bicycle exercise test. The analyses were carried out 30 min before and immediately before exercise, immediately after exercise and 20 and 45 min later. The post-exercise values were corrected for plasma volume changes which were calculated from hematocrit and hemoglobin values. Immediately post-exercise the ECP increased significantly (p < 0.01) from 1.25 +/- 0.28 at rest to 2.40 +/- 0.59 micrograms/l. Twenty and 45 min later the values normalized and significant differences from the pre-exercise values could no longer be measured. The results provide strong evidence for an activation of eosinophil granulocytes after a short maximal exercise.

Feasibility of exercising adults with asthma: a randomized pilot study

“…Previous studies, which have reported elevation of serum ECP levels with a concomitant decrease in eosinophils following exercise, support this hypothesis. In these earlier studies, serum ECP levels and circulating eosinophils were measured during sessions of acute graded aerobic exercise [20] and endurance aerobic exercise at moderate altitude [21] in healthy subjects. In both studies, serum samples were collected within minutes post exercise.…”

Prolonged Endurance Challenge at Moderate Altitude

“…Tsuda et al 10 found that ECP levels in asthmatic children may rise during exercise and that this increase may even continue after exercise, but only in the EIA-positive group. Dufaux et al 11 found an increase in ECP release after short, maximal bicycle exercise in healthy subjects, providing strong evidence that blood eosinophils may be activated after a short bout of maximal exercise. Varying release of eosinophil granule proteins has been previously reported in response to environmental factors.…”

Non-allergic activation of eosinophils after strenuous endurance exercise

“…36 Only two previous studies have reported that eosinophils may be activated by non-allergic mechanisms in healthy subjects. Both prolonged endurance exercise 11 and short-term maximal exercise 12 were shown to increase serum ECP in healthy subjects. There is therefore, limited data on the response of eosinophils to a physiological challenge such as endurance exercise, and the possibility that these cells may be associated with the URTS reported after endurance exercise in non-allergic/asthmatic individuals is yet to be explored.…”

“…Plasma ECP was shown to be elevated immediately after a graded maximal bicycle exercise test. 12 Two possible explanations for eosinophil activation were provided which are related to exercise-induced muscle/tissue damage. Firstly, that ECP is usually released by eosinophils to deal with nonphagocytosable opsonised micro-organisms (e.g.…”