How exercise affects immunity? Is exercise good or bad for immunity?

1. Exercise and Immunity
Dr. Hina Vaish (PT)
BPT, MPT(Cardiopulmonary)
Assistant Professor, MMIPR,
Maharishi Markandeshwar
(Deemed to be University),
Mullana, Ambala

2. Immunity
Immunity can be defined as a complex biological
system endowed with the capability to recognize
and tolerate whatever belongs to the self and to
recognize and reject what is foreign ( non-self)
J. R Rogers.Encyclopedia of Biological Engineering 2019

3. Weak immune system is more
prone to infections

4. Too much Immunity
Is cause of concern
Not enough Immunity
Infections
It’s important to maintain balance

5. Enhancing the body’s natural defense
system (immunity) plays an important role
in maintaining optimum health and hence
it will be good to take preventive measures
which boost the immunity in these times.

6. Exercise is good or bad for
immune system?

7. Exercise and Immune System
• The immune system is very reactive to
exercise, with the magnitude and time-
duration reflecting the degree of physiological
stress levied by the workload.
• Exercise promotes the re-circulation of key
immune cells and mediates an anti-
inflammatory and antioxidant state through
multiple mechanisms.

8. It’s important to maintain balance
Adequate
Exercise
High intensity
Workload
Immunity
Booster
Immunity
dys-
regulation

9. Acute effects of exercise on the immune
system
The enhanced immuno-surveillance of distinct
immune cell subtypes during exercise bouts of
less than 60 min that have potential prevention
and therapeutic value.

10. Acute effects of exercise on the
immune system
systemic
inflammation
BLOOD
Neutrophils
Monocytes
Cytotoxic T
cells and
Natural killer
cells
Inter Lukin 6
complement
Immuno-
globulins
immuno-
surveillence
Adapyed from Nieman DC, Wentz LM. The compelling link between physical activity and the body's
defense system. J Sport Health Sci. 2019 May;8(3):201-217. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2018.09.009.

11. Cont…
• Stress hormones, which can suppress immune
cell function, and proinflammatory cytokines,
indicative of intense metabolic activity, do not
reach high levels during short duration, moderate
exercise bouts
• Over time, these transient, exercise- induced
increases in selective lymphocyte subsets
enhance immunosurveillance and lower
inflammation, and may be of particular clinical
value.
Nieman DC, Wentz LM. The compelling link between physical activity and the body's defense system. J Sport Health Sci. 2019
May;8(3):201-217. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2018.09.009

12. Moderate Intensity Exercise
• Moderate intensity exercise improves immune
function and probably lessens risk and
severity of respiratory viral infection
• Prevent or decline the age-related waning in
immune-system response.

13. Moderate
Intensity
Exercise
Reduction in
inflammation
Maintenance
of thymic
mass
Amelioration
of
psychological
stress.
Enhanced
immune-
surveillance
Alter in
composition of
younger and
older immune
cells

14. Exercise and Immune System Linkage
Stimulate ongoing exchange of leucocytes between
circulation and tissues
Enriches blood compartment with highly cytotoxic T cells and NK cells
Metabolically moderate ex induced small elevations in IL-6 and exert
anti-inflammatory effect
Exercise training has immuno-modulating effects. Exercise training
decreases oxidative stress by augmenting antioxidant defenses consisting
of enzymes.

15. High training workload and Immune
function
High Training workload
Immuno dysfunction
Physiological stress
Metabolic stress
Psychological stress

16. High Intensity work load
will casuse immuno-
dysfunction
Damage to NK cell and
neutrophil function, measures
of T- and B-cell function,
salivary IgA output, Skin
delayed-type hypersensitivity
response
Major histocompatibility complex
II expression in macrophages
Biomarkers of immune
function are altered for
several hours to days during
recovery
Inflammation,
oxidative stress
High training workload and Immune function

17. Cont…
• These immune changes occur in several
compartments of the immune system and
body
• Immune cell metabolic capacity is decreased
during recovery from physiologically
demanding bouts of intensive exercise,
resulting in transient immune dysfunction

18. The J Curve
Adapted from: 17, Exercise, Infection, and Immunity: Practical Applications
Military Strategies for Sustainment of Nutrition and Immune Function in the Field. Institute of Medicine
(US) Committee on Military Nutrition Research. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1999.

19. What type of exercise is
effective ?

20. Endurance Exercise
• Enhanced Extracellular superoxide dismutase
(EcSOD) expression is promoted by endurance
exercise in skeletal muscle.
• EcSOD activity prevents oxidative stress and
damage
• It can be redistributed to other vital tissues
to protect the target tissues against oxidative
damage in pathological processes
Yan Z, Spaulding HR. Extracellular superoxide dismutase, a molecular transducer of health benefits of exercise.
Redox Biol. 2020 Mar 19;32:101508. doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2020.101508.

21. Cont….
• Exercise-induced EcSOD expression seems to
be specific for endurance exercise, not
induced by resistance exercise
• Exercise promotes EcSOD expression in
skeletal muscle, leading to enhanced
extracellular antioxidant defense in the
circulation and peripheral tissues as the
molecular transducer of the benefits of
exercise to health and disease.

22. Stress and immunity
Chronic stress
Provoke cortisol secretion
WBC down regulate the cortisol receptors
Increase in cytokine mediated inflammatory
process

23. Exercise and Psycho- neuro-immunity
Sung-Wan Kim and Kuan-Pin Su. Using psychoneuroimmunity against COVID-19 . Brain, Behavior, and
Immunity, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.03.025. (Article in press)

24. Exercise is the most under utilized
antidepressant and its free
John S. Y. Chan, Guanmin Liu, Danxia Liang, Kanfeng Deng, Jiamin Wu & Jin H. Yan – Therapeutic Benefits of Physical Activity for Mood: A
Systematic Review on the Effects of Exercise Intensity, Duration, and Modality, The Journal of Psychology.2020 Special Isuue;153:1, 102-125,
WHO -Motion for your mind: Physical activity for mental health promotion, protection and care.
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/403182/WHO-Motion-for-your-mind-ENG.pdf?ua=1
• Exercise-induced increase in blood
circulation to the brain and by an
influence on the hypothalamic-
pituitary-adrenal axis
• Exercise helps bump up the feel
good neurotransmitters called
endorphins

25. Summary
• Moderate intensity exercise improves immune
function and probably lessens risk and severity of
infection whereas prolonged, intense exercise
causes immunosuppression.
• Each bout of exercise, predominantly whole body
cardiorespiratory dynamic exercise promptly
mobilizes immune cells and increase immune
defense.
• Exercise is important for psycho-neuro-immunity

26. THANK YOU