title: Mucosal immunity and upper respiratory tract infections during a 24-week competitive season in young ice hockey players.
abstract: The aim of this study was to examine upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and their associations with resting saliva and blood immune and endocrine parameters in ice hockey players. Twenty-seven participants (age 16.5 ± 0.5 years) completed the 24-week study period. The counts/concentrations of immune and endocrine markers were compared between healthy-prone athletes (≤2 episodes of URTI during the study period) and illness-prone athletes (≥3 episodes of URTI) and between the URTI state (when athletes had infections) and the healthy state (the time without URTI). There were no differences in concentration/counts of saliva and blood immune and endocrine parameters between the illness-prone and illness-free athletes. Athletes had significantly lower sIgA, sIgA1 and sIgA2 concentrations (sIgA: 119.88 ± 66.88, 144.10 ± 75.0 µg/ml; sIgA1: 90.2 ± 40.64, 108.44 ± 29.8 U; sIgA2: 67.58 ± 30.1, 80.3 ± 25.61 U, respectively) and significantly higher WBC, neutrophil, monocyte and eosinophil count values and IL-1ra concentration at the time when they had symptoms of URTI than in the period without symptoms of infections. There were no differences in salivary cortisol concentration between the period of URTI symptoms and the period without URTI symptoms. In conclusion, we observed lower concentrations of salivary immunoglobulins and higher levels of blood immune parameters during URTI in athletes, which may confirm the suppression of mucosal immunity and initiation responses to pathogenic infections by innate immunity.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Nutrition Physiology , Institute of Sport - National Research Institute , Warsaw , Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Orysiak
authors.affiliation: b Department of Biochemistry , Institute of Sport - National Research Institute , Warsaw , Poland.
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Witek
authors.affiliation: c Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences , University of Zielona Gora , Zielona Gora , Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zembron-Lacny
authors.affiliation: c Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences , University of Zielona Gora , Zielona Gora , Poland.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Morawin
authors.affiliation: a Department of Nutrition Physiology , Institute of Sport - National Research Institute , Warsaw , Poland.
authors.forename: Jadwiga
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Malczewska-Lenczowska
authors.affiliation: d Department of Physiology , Institute of Sport - National Research Institute , Warsaw , Poland.
authors.forename: Dariusz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sitkowski
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D006688:Hockey / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory / Q000378:metabolism; D015994:Incidence; D053590:Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines; C507763:IL1RN protein, human; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory; D053590:Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist Protein; D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Infections; athletes; cytokines; immunoglobulins; leukocytes