Effect of twelve months of resistance training program on immunological parameters of clinically healthy elderly women /

Vagner Raso

Resistance training program represents an important strategy to reduce sarcopenia, improving muscle strength and mass, and consequently, functional capacity to perform activities of daily living in elderly people. Additionally, resistance training program has been also recently suggested to restore the deleterious effects of aging process on immune system. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of twelve months of light resistance training program on functional and quantitative immunological paremeters of clinically healthy elderly women. Volunteers were selected by SENIEUR protocol and thirty-eight clinically healthy untrained females (aged 60-77 year-old) were randomly assigned to either a light resistance training program (RTP: 67.74 + 5.28 year-old [n: 28]) or a control group (CG: 68.69 + 2.98 year-old [n: 14]). The RTP consisted of three sets of twelve repetitions at 54.87 ± 2.37% of one repetition maximum test (1-RM) for five different exercises (seated bench press, lattissimus pull down, seated row, leg extension and leg press) performed three times per week during twelve months. Natural killer cell cytotoxic activity (NKCA), lymphoproliferative response to the phytohemaglutinin (PHA) and OKT3, and quantification of the lymphocytes (CD3+, CD19+, CD3-CD16+CD56+) and subpopulations (CD4+, CD8+, CD56dim, CD56bright) as well as cellular expression molecules (CD25+, CD28+, CD45RA+, CD45RO+, CD69+, CD95+, HLA-DR+) were determined by immunological assays. Variables were measured each 6 months during one year (pre-program [PRE], 6 months [6M] and 12 months [12M]). Statistical analysis showed that RTP volunteers increased muscle strength in 44.2% and 48.1% after 6 and 12 months, respectivelly (p<0.05), whilst there was increased in maximal oxygen peak (VO2peak) after only 6 months (14.7%, p<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between both groups (unless 12M for the 20:1) or according to the time (unless 40:1 for RTP) when NKCA was analyzed. RTP group preserved lymphoproliferative response, while CG increased significantly the lymphoproliferative response to the PHA and OKT3. There were statistically significant decrease (p<0.05) for RTP volunteers to the total lymphocytes (PRE x 12M), CD3+ (PRE x 12M), CD3+CD4+ (PRE x 12M), CD3-CD19+ (PRE x 6M), CD3+CD45RA+ (PRE x 6M; PRE x 12M), CD3+CD45RO+ (PRE x 12M; 6M x 12M), CD4+CD45RA+ (PRE x 6M), CD4+CD45RO+ (PRE x 12M; 6M x 12M), CD3+CD95+CD28+ (PRE x 6M), CD4+CD95+CD28+ (PRE x 6M), CD8+CD95+CD28+ (PRE x 12M), and to the CD56dimCD25+HLA-DR+ (6M x 12M). GC volunteers also showed statistically significant decrease (p<0.05) to the total lymphocytes (PRE x 12M), CD3-CD19+ (PRE x 6M; PRE x 12M), CD3-CD16+CD56+ (PRE x 12M; 6M x 12M), CD3+CD45RO+ (PRE x 12M), and to the CD56dim (PRE x 12M). It is possible that the other independent variable, which not the RTP, and/or some seasonal tendency have influenced the results because to the fact of both groups had presented lower cell expression levels during the period of the study. The results of this study permit to conclude that twelve months of light RTP were sufficient to increase muscle strength and maximal oxygen peak, but not to improve functional and quantitative immunological parameters of clinically healthy elderly women. Thus, possibly suggesting that the threshold of effects on immunological paremeters on clinically healthy elderly women would be dose-response dependent and/or could be rather than that to increase muscle strength and/or maximal oxygen peak.

Effect of twelve months of resistance training program on immunological parameters of clinically healthy elderly women / "Efeito de doze meses de um programa de exercícios com pesos em parâmetros imunológicos de mulheres idosas clinicamente saudáveis"

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