Mucosal IgA and URTI in American College Football Players: A Year Longitudinal Study

Abstract

These findings suggest that a season of training in American football results in a significant decrease in both s-IgA and the secretion rate of s-IgA as well as an increase in the incidence of URTI. Among the various methods commonly employed to express s- IgA levels, the secretion rate of s-IgA may be the most useful clinical biomarker to predict the incidence of URTI.

The influence of exercise training status on antigen-stimulated IL-10 production in whole blood culture and numbers of circulating regulatory T cells

“…Observations from the athletic population have given support to these findings, with high training loads (Gleeson et al 2012;Nieman 1990) and intensified periods of training (Fahlman and Engels 2005) reported to be associated with a higher incidence of URTI.…”

Fitness level impacts salivary antimicrobial protein responses to a single bout of cycling exercise

“…Indeed, periods of intense, frequent, endurance--based training have consistently been associated with self--reported symptoms of URTI in elite--level athletes (Gleeson 2000;Gleeson and Pyne 2000;Nieman 2000). Low levels of salivary secretory Immunoglubulin A (SIgA) have been linked with an increased risk of URTI (Fahlman and Engels 2005;Gleeson et al 2012;Hanson et al 1983;Neville et al 2008) and prolonged, high--intensity exercise bouts lower both the concentration and secretion of salivary SIgA (Fahlman et al 2001;Nieman et al 2006;Steerenberg et al 1997;Tomasi et al 1982;Usui et al 2011). On the other hand, shorter exercise bouts, or low to moderate--intensity exercise, may actually increase salivary SIgA concentration and secretion (Allgrove et al 2008;Li and Gleeson 2004), indicating that mucosal immune integrity, and indeed URTI risk, is dependent on the duration and intensity of the exercise performed.…”

The influence of hydration status during prolonged endurance exercise on salivary antimicrobial proteins

“…Salivary secretory IgA (SIgA) has been the most commonly studied marker of mucosal immunity and its deficiency has been associated with a higher incidence of infections (Fahlman and Engels 2005, Neville et al 2008, . More recently however, the importance of other antimicrobial proteins (AMPs) in saliva has gained greater recognition.…”