2006 Volume 4 Issue Special_Issue_2_2006 Pages 508-514
The immune function declines in efficiency with advancing age, making the elderly less resistant to pathogenic microorganisms. The effects of walking exercise training (five 30-min walking sessions/week at 80% VT) on salivary secretory IgA (SIgA) and plasma lymphocyte subpopulations were studied in elderly subjects. Thirty sedentary, elderly subjects (8 men, 22 women; age 66.7±7.4 years) performed walking exercise for 3 months. Aerobic power, body composition, and immune function were examined before (Pre) and after training (3 months). Salivary SIgA flow rate were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while lymphocyte subpopulations were measured by flow cytometry. SIgA flow rate significantly increased at 3 months, especially in 64-year-olds and under (U-64), 65∼85-year-olds (65-85), and female elderly subjects. Number of total lymphocytes, NK cell, and memory-Th cell significantly decreased at 3 months. We conclude that 3 months of walking provides enhancement of mucosal immune function in elderly subjects, although it is not associated with an improvement in lymphocytes.
