Summary
The influence of work intensity and duration on the white blood cell (WBC), lymphocyte (L) and platelet (P) count response to exercise was studied in 16 trained subjects (22±5.4 years, \(\bar x\)±SD). They performed three cyclo-ergospirometric protocols: A) 10 min at 150 W followed by a progressive test (30 W/3 min) till exhaustion; B) constant maximal work (\(\dot V_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} {\text{max}}}\)); C) a 45 min Square-Wave Endurance Exercise Test (SWEET), (n=5). Arterial blood samples were taken: at rest, submaximal and maximal exercise in A; maximal exercise in B; 15th, 30th and 45th min in the SWEET. Lactate, [H+], PaCO2, PaO2, [Hct], Hb, cortisol, ACTH, total platelet volume (TPV), total blood red cell (RBC), WBC, L and P were measured. At 150 W, WBC, L, P, and TPV increased. \(\dot V_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} {\text{max}}}\) did not differ between A and B, but a difference was found in total exercise time (A=25±3 min; B=7±2 min, p<0.001). In A, at \(\dot V_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} {\text{max}}}\), the increase was very small for Hct, [Hb], and RBC (10%), in contrast with large changes for WBC (+93%), L (+137%), P (+32%), TPV (+35%), [H+] (+39%), lactate (+715%), and ACTH (+95%). At \(\dot V_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} {\text{max}}}\) there were no differences in these variables between A and B. During the SWEET: WBC, L, P, TPV and ACTH increased at the 15th min as much as in \(\dot V_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} {\text{max}}}\), but no difference was observed between the 15th, 30th and 45th min, except for ACTH which continued to rise; the lactate increase during the SWEET was about half (+341%) the value observed at \(\dot V_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} {\text{max}}}\), and [H+] did not vary with respect to values at rest. The data show that the increase in WBC, L, P, and TPV is small in submaximal exercise but larger at \(\dot V_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} {\text{max}}}\) and during the SWEET; high intensity plays a greater role than the total time of exercise in the variation, and haemoconcentration, cortisol and acidosis seem to have little influence.
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This study was partly supported by a grant from the European Economic Commission (EEC), Luxembourg
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Gimenez, M., Mohan-Kumar, T., Humbert, J.C. et al. Leukocyte, lymphocyte and platelet response to dynamic exercise. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 55, 465–470 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421638
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421638