Skeletal muscle, as a producer of glutamine, is important for lymphocytes, monocytes
and macrophages.. Exercise-induced muscle damage could burden the immune system by
concurrently eliciting a local inflammatory response and decreasing glutamine availability.
The aim of this study was to determine whether blood leukocyte and glutamime concentrations
were affected in individuals with high serum creatine kinase (CK) activity (indirect
indication of muscle damage) compared to those with no change in CK. Twelve females
performed maximal eccentric resistance exercise using one arm and one leg. Blood leukocyte
subsets and glutamine were measured at 24 and 0 h pre-exercise, and post-exercise
at intervals up to 9 d post-exercise. Eleven subjects were placed in High (n = 6)
and Low CK (n = 5) groups. Lymphocytes, (total, natural killer, and T), monocytes,
and granulocytes did not change significantly in either group, at any time. Whole
blood glutamine concentration decreased (p < 0.05) from 437 μM pre-exercise to 332
μM 3 d post-exercise in both groups. The decrease in glutamine suggests that the metabolism
of the muscle may be affected by this exercise, however, the occurrence of this decrease
in both groups suggests that this change was not a response to muscle damage.
Key words
NK cells - lymphocytes - neutrophils, - monocytes - creatine kinase - Cortisol - eccentric
