The effects of exercise and diurnal variation on monocyte subsets and monocyte-platelet aggregates

Eur J Clin Invest 2012 Background Monocytes are important mediators in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease, but only scarce data are available on biological and methodological factors affecting their levels. Design Three monocyte subsets, CD14++ CD16− CCR2+ (Mon1), CD14++ CD16+ CCR2+ (Mon2), CD14+ CD16+ CCR2− (Mon3), and monocyte‐platelet aggregates (MPAs) were analysed by flow cytometry. The effects of treadmill exercise were assessed on 12 healthy volunteers. Diurnal variation was evaluated in 16 healthy volunteers, and the effects of delayed blood processing were measured in 12 samples. Results Mon1 were increased when measured 15 min after exercise followed by a reduction at 1 h (P