Samuel Eguasi Inkabi¹*, Giggil Pushpamithran¹, Paul Richter¹, Kwadwo Attakora^2
1Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping- Sweden.
²College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA

Received 04 August 2017; Revised 30 October 2017; Accepted 04 November 2017; Available online 05 November 2017

Abstract

Physical exercise induces modifications in the immune system influencing either positively or negatively on health depending on its frequency, duration and intensity. Acute or moderate physical exercise increases appreciably the immune cells, including cytokine levels while decreasing other components like NK cells, leading to a stronger response to pathogens as well as decreasing liability to allergic reactions. The expression of Toll-like receptors (TLR) is elevated as well, augmenting the positive effect. Exhaustive physical exercise, by contrast, modifies the immune system adversely. This review explores the links between physical exercise, immune cells and cytokines, and the immunological effects that have been studied by the performance of different kinds of physical exercise.

Keywords: Physical exercise, acute exercise, moderate exercise, immune system, exhaustive exercise, strenuous exercise.

Scientect Journal of Life Sciences (2017) 1 (1), 31-35