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Int J Sports Med 2000; 21(8): 602-607
DOI: 10.1055/s-2000-8477
Immunology
Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart ·New York

Comparison of Anti-Leukemic Immunity Against U937 Cells in Endurance Athletes Versus Sedentary Controls

J. Chiang1 , Y. W. Huang3 , M. L. Chen3 , S. Y. Wang4 , A. C. Huang1 , Y. J. Chen2, 5
  • 1 Graduate Institute of Sport Coaching Science, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
  • 2 Department of Martial Arts, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
  • 3 Department of Medical Research, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
  • 4 Department of Medical Research, Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
  • 5 Department of Radiation Oncology, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
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Publication History

Publication Date:
31 December 2000 (online)

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To examine whether endurance athletes have higher anti-leukemic immunity than sedentary controls or not, we isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) from cyclists and sedentary controls to prepare conditioned media (CM) with various doses of phytohemagglutinin (PHA). The proliferation-inhibiting and differentiation-inducing activities of these PHA-MNC-CM on human leukemic U937 cells were investigated. Our results show that the growth inhibition activity of cyclists' PHA-MNC-CM were higher than that of controls. The dosage of PHA used to prepare MNC-CM to achieve about 90 % growth inhibition was 5 µg/ml in the control group and was 2 µg/ml in the athletes group. The differentiation-inducing effects were evaluated by morphological scoring, superoxide production, and monocyte-associated antigen expression (CD14 and CD68). These three parameters all demonstrated the differentiation-inducing effect of MNC-CM increased with increasing dose of PHA. These effects were significantly greater in the athletic when compared to the sedentary control group at all doses of PHA. The levels of TNF-α and IFN-γ in PHA-MNC-CM increased in a PHA dose-dependent manner and were much higher in the athletic group when compared to the controls. We conclude that the capacity of endurance athletes to activate anti-leukemic immunity is significantly higher than that of sedentary controls.

Key words:

Cyclist, U937 cell, proliferation, differentiation.

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M.D. Yu-Jen Chen

Department of Radiation Oncology Mackay Memorial Hospital

92 Chung San Road Taipei Taiwan 10449 Republic of China

Fax: Fax:+ 886 (2) 28096180

Email: E-mail:oncoman@ms1.mmh.org.tw

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