title: Effect of exercise, aging and functional capacity on acute secretory immunoglobulin A response in elderly people over 75 years of age.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Age-associated decline in immune function and regulation, referred to as immunosenescence, brings about an increased incidence of infectious diseases in the aged; however, there are few data on the effect of aging and exercise on mucosal immune function in elderly people. Moreover, there is no evidence on whether the change in functional capacity affects mucosal immunity in elderly people. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the effects of exercise, aging and functional capacity on mucosal immune function in elderly people over 75 years of age.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 92 community-dwelling elderly women aged over 75 years who lived in a rural community in Miyagi Prefecture. The subjects periodically performed approximately 20 min of low intensity exercise. Saliva samples were collected before and after exercise, and saliva flow (SF), secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) concentration (SIgA-C) and SIgA secretion rate (SIgA-SR) were determined. The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence (TMIG-IC) was used to measure functional capacity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In comparison with before exercise, SF, SIgA-C and SIgA-SR were significantly increased after exercise in elderly subjects. In addition, when low and high value groups of resting SIgA levels were compared, acute SIgA responses were observed only in the low value group; however, there was no significant effect of aging and decline in functional capacity on exercise-induced SIgA response.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that resting SIgA levels influence the mucosal immune function response to exercise in elderly people over 75 years of age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan. sakamoto@shinshu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yuzuru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Shouzoh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ueki
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kasai
authors.forename: Jinro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takato
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimanuki
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Tsunehisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haga
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory / Q000502:physiology*; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000276:immunology; D012463:Saliva / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory