Immune Response of Elite Enduro Racers to Laboratory and Racing Environments: The Influence of Training Impulse and Vibration

Lewis Kirkwood, Lesley Ingram-Sills, Mark Dunlop Taylor, Eva Malone and Geraint Florida-James
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Lewis Kirkwood: School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, UK
Lesley Ingram-Sills: School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, UK
Mark Dunlop Taylor: School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH10 5DT, UK
Eva Malone: School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, UK
Geraint Florida-James: School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, UK

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: Introduction: Understanding the sport-specific immune response elicited during both training and competition is imperative to maximise athlete health and performance. Despite a growing population of professional enduro mountain bike athletes, little is known about the recovery of the immune system following enduro racing events. Methods: Nine international level elite enduro mountain bike athletes (age 24.3 ± 2.4 years, height 178.5 ± 8.7 cm, mass 76.5 ± 12.5 kg) completed a laboratory-based maximal exercise test (LAB) on a cycle ergometer and competed in an international mountain bike enduro race event (RACE). Blood samples were taken before, immediately after, and 1 h after LAB and before, 1 h after, and 17 h after RACE. Leukocyte subsets were enumerated using seven-colour flow cytometry. Lucia’s training impulse (LuTRIMP) and vibration exposure (VIB) were quantified during RACE. Results: Seven participants were included in the final analyses. There was a significant ( p < 0.05) increase in neutrophil count alongside a reduction of cytotoxic lymphocyte cell subsets of both the innate (CD3 ? /CD56 + NK-cells and CD3 ? /CD56 dim NK-cells) and adaptive (CD8 + /CD62L ? /CD45RA ? T-cells and CD8 + /CD27 + /CD28 ? T-cells) components of the immune system one hour after RACE. All cell counts returned to baseline values 17 h afterwards ( p > 0.05). Cell subset redistribution from pre- to post-one-hour time points (%?pre-post1h) in cell subsets with potent effector functions (Neutrophils, CD3 ? /CD56 + NK-cells, CD8 + /CD62L ? /CD45RA ? T-cells, CD8 + /CD27 + /CD28 ? T-cells, and CD3 ? /CD56 dim /CD57 ? NK-cells) was significantly greater at RACE than LAB ( p < 0.05). VIB was shown to be a superior predictor of %?pre-post1h CD4 + T-cells, CD4 + early T-cells, CD4 + naïve T-cells, and NK cells as compared with LuTRIMP on its own (? R 2 = 0.63 ? 0.89, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The race event offers a greater challenge to the immune system than LAB, and potentially, whole body vibration is a key component of training load measurement in mountain bike applications.

Keywords: mountain biking; training load; recovery; leukocyte redistribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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