title: Effects of moderate exercise and oat beta-glucan on innate immune function and susceptibility to respiratory infection.
abstract: Both moderate exercise and the soluble oat fiber beta-glucan can increase immune function and decrease risk of infection, but no information exists on their possible combined effects. This study tested the effects of moderate exercise and oat beta-glucan on respiratory infection, macrophage antiviral resistance, and natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity. Mice were assigned to four groups: exercise and water, exercise and oat beta-glucan, control water, or control oat beta-glucan. Oat beta-glucan was fed in the drinking water for 10 days before intranasal inoculation of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or euthanasia. Exercise consisted of treadmill running (1 h/day) for 6 days. Macrophage resistance to HSV-1 was increased with both exercise and oat beta-glucan, whereas NK cell cytotoxicity was only increased with exercise. Exercise was also associated with a 45 and 38% decrease in morbidity and mortality, respectively. Mortality was also decreased with oat beta-glucan, but this effect did not reach statistical significance. No additive effects of exercise and oat beta-glucan were found. These data confirm a positive effect of both moderate exercise and oat beta-glucan on immune function, but only moderate exercise was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of upper respiratory tract infection in this model.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Exercise Science, 1300 Wheat St., Columbia, SC 29208, USA. jmdavis@sc.edu
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Carmichael
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghaffar
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Mayer
mesh_terms: D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D018554:Avena / Q000737:chemistry*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005936:Glucans / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D007107:Immune System / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D015994:Incidence; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D017737:Macrophages, Peritoneal / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D015430:Weight Gain; D047071:beta-Glucans
chemical_list: D005936:Glucans; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D047071:beta-Glucans; C064197:beta-1,6-glucan