Moderate exercise triggers both priming and activation of neutrophil subpopulations

J. A. Smith, A. B. Gray, D. B. Pyne, M. S. Baker, R. D. Telford and M. J. Weidemann Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. We investigated how moderate exercise affects neutrophil microbicidal activity and whether exercise-induced responses are associated with changes in growth hormone (GH) secretion. Biological fluctuations were controlled for and GH secretion was manipulated by glucose ingestion. In eight men, 1 h of moderate exercise increased intracellular H2O2 generation in response to phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate stimulation by threefold (P = 0.025) and complement receptor expression by 20% (P = 0.045). These responses were accompanied by a twofold increase in the plasma concentration of elastase, a marker of neutrophil activation in vivo. The plasma concentration of GH increased 10-fold after exercise, but this was reduced to 3-fold by glucose ingestion (P < 0.001), which also blunted elastase release (P < 0.001). Although the magnitude of H2O2 generation increased in proportion to the increase in plasma GH concentration, it declined progressively once this exceeded 20 ng/ml. The net response of neutrophils to exercise may represent a balance between the individual responses of subpopulations that are unaffected, primed, or fully activated by circulating mediators that respond to exercise and to dietary glucose intake.