Expression of the antioxidant stress protein heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in human leukocytes.
Inducible heme oxygenase (HO-1) is an antioxidant stress protein, that is mainly induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS), cytokines and hyperthermia. By using flow cytometry the present investigation demonstrated a rise in the cytoplasmic expression of HO-1 in lympho- (L), mono- (M) and granulocytes (G) of 9 endurance-trained male subjects after a half marathon run. The expression was more pronounced in M (median: 98.3% HO-1 positive cells/4.31 mfc) and G (94.8%/1.93 mfc) than in L (80.1%/1.51 mfc) when measured 3 h post-exercise. Additionally the exercise protocol caused a rise in the plasma levels of myeloperoxidase, TNF alpha and interleukin-8 (IL-8), indicating an inflammatory response. We could detect a correlation between IL-8 and HO-1, directly after exercise, that was apparent in G (r = 0.67, p < .05) and L (r = 0.80, p < .05), but did not reach significance in M (r = 0.65, p = 0.06). An additional detection of HO-1 at rest in 12 untrained subjects showed a higher baseline expression of HO-1 compared to the athletes. The regulatory pathways leading to an increased expression of HO-1 after endurance exercise are not completely clear, but a causal involvement of a cytokine-mediated generation of ROS must be discussed. We supposed that the down-regulation of the baseline expression of HO-1 in athletes reflects an adaptional mechanism to regular exercise training.
Niess
A M
AM
Medical Clinic und Policlinic, Department of Sports Medicine, University of Tuebingen, Germany. andreas.niess@uni-tuebingen.de
Passek
F
F
Lorenz
I
I
Schneider
E M
EM
Dickhuth
H H
HH
Northoff
H
H
Fehrenbach
E
E
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006419:Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing) / Q000097:blood*; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009195:Peroxidase / Q000097:blood; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
D000975:Antioxidants; D016209:Interleukin-8; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D009195:Peroxidase; C496541:HMOX1 protein, human; D006419:Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing); D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1