title: Cellular immune activity in response to increased training of elite oarsmen prior to Olympic competition.
abstract: This study investigated the changes in urinary neopterin, a biochemical marker of cellular immune activity, in elite male rowers undertaking a progressive increase in training prior to Olympic competition. Twenty-seven male rowers of the 1992 Great Britain team provided daily urine samples for a 4-week period of training that included 17 days of altitude training and 10 days of heat acclimatization. The mean (+/- S.D.) ratio of neopterin/creatinine in urine increased from pre-training values of 135 +/- 32 to a peak of 219 +/- 121 mumol neopterin per mol creatinine on day 19 of training (P < 0.05). Changes in the ratio of neopterin/creatinine with training were found to be transient and highly variable between subjects, ranging from no change to peak values five-fold greater than baseline. On the basis of the in vivo measurement of cell-mediated immunity employed in this study, we conclude that elite athletes engaged in high-intensity training prior to competition show either no change or a moderate increase in cellular immune activation.
authors.affiliation: Applied Physiology Research Group, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Jakeman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weller
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Warrington
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001708:Biopterins / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D008297:Male; D019798:Neopterin; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001708:Biopterins; D019798:Neopterin; D003404:Creatinine