The Effects of Age and Latent Cytomegalovirus Infection on NK-Cell Phenotype and Exercise Responsiveness in Man

The redeployment of NK-cells in response to an acute bout of exercise is thought to be an integral component of the “fight-or-flight” response, preparing the body for potential injury or infection. We showed previously that CMV seropositivity impairs the redeployment of NK-cells with exercise in the young. In the current study, we examined the effect of aging on the redeployment of NK-cells with exercise in the context of CMV. We show here that CMV blunts the exercise-induced redeployment of NK-cells in both younger (23–39 yrs) and older (50–64 yrs) subjects with older CMVneg subjects showing the largest postexercise mobilization and 1 h postexercise egress of NK-cells. The blunted exercise response in CMVpos individuals was associated with a decreased relative redeployment of the CD158a+ and CD57+ NK-cell subsets in younger and older individuals. In addition, we show that aging is associated with a CMV-independent increase in the proportion of NK-cells expressing the terminal differentiation marker CD57, while CMV is associated with an age-dependent decrease in the proportion of NK-cells expressing the inhibitory receptors KLRG1 (in the younger group) and CD158a (in the older group). Collectively, these data suggest that CMV may decrease NK-cell mediated immunosurveillance after exercise in both younger and older individuals.