Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 May 7;5(4):338-43.
doi: 10.7150/ijbs.5.338.

Modulation of NKT cells and Th1/Th2 imbalance after alpha-GalCer treatment in progressive load-trained rats

Wang Ru  1 , Chen Peijie
Affiliations

Modulation of NKT cells and Th1/Th2 imbalance after alpha-GalCer treatment in progressive load-trained rats

Wang Ru et al. Int J Biol Sci. .

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer), a synthetic glycolipid agonist of natural killer T (NKT) cells, can ameliorate exercise-induced immune imbalance.

Methods: Eight-week-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained with a progressively increasing load for 9 weeks. At 36 h and at 7 d after training, groups of rats were euthanized. The whole blood was used to detect hemoglobin(Hb), plasma was analyzed for hormones testosterone(T) and corticosterone(C), and spleen was harvested for detecting NKT cells and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin (IL)-4 producing cells.

Results: Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences between training and time in Series 1. The results showed, at 36h after training, that the decrease in Hb, T and C concentration reflected overtraining or excessive exercise. At 7 d after training, NKT cell populations decreased, and a T helper 1/T helper 2 (Th1/Th2) lymphocyte imbalance occurred. In Series 2, alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer), an NKT cell activator was found to enhance NKT cell numbers by 69% and shift the Th1/Th2 lymphocyte imbalance by observably decreasing the frequency of IL-4 secreting cells.

Conclusion: These data showed that, in addition to Th1/Th2 self-regulation, alpha-GalCer played an important modulatory role in the exercise-induced Th1/Th2 lymphocyte imbalance, which may be correlative with NKT immunoregulatory cells.

Keywords: Immunomodulation; Natural Killer T cells; T help 1/T helpe 2 lymphocytes.; exercise-induced immunosuppression; α-Galactosylceramide.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of α-GalCer treatment on NKT cell frequency and IFN-γ and IL-4 producing cells in a week post-training. There are 6 rats in each group. *p<0.05 compared with control. **p<0.01 compared with control. #p<0.05 compared with untreated training group. # #p<0.01 compared with untreated training group.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of α-GalCer treatment on NKT cell frequency and IFN-γ and IL-4 producing cells in a week post-training. There are 6 rats in each group. *p<0.05 compared with control. **p<0.01 compared with control. #p<0.05 compared with untreated training group. # #p<0.01 compared with untreated training group.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of α-GalCer treatment on NKT cell frequency and IFN-γ and IL-4 producing cells in a week post-training. There are 6 rats in each group. *p<0.05 compared with control. **p<0.01 compared with control. #p<0.05 compared with untreated training group. # #p<0.01 compared with untreated training group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Smith LL. Overtraining, excessive exercise, and altered immunity: is this a T helper-1 versus T helper-2 lymphocyte response? Sports Med. 2003;33(5):347–64. - PubMed
    1. Steensberg A, Toft AD, Bruunsgaard H et al. Strenuous exercise decreases the percentage of type T cells in the circulation. J Appl Physiol. 2001;91(4):1708–12. - PubMed
    1. Kronenberg M, Gapin L. The unconventional lifestyle of NKT cells. Nat Rev Immunol. 2002;2(8):557–68. - PubMed
    1. Tian W, Peijie C, Binghong G. Effects of Simulated Hypoxic Training on Such Indexes as Lymphocyte Subsets of Female Rowers. Sports Sci. 2006;26(6):59–61.
    1. Zheng Z, Peijie C. Characteristics of Runners'Immune Cell Changes with Acupuncture Interference after 4 Hours'Half-Marathon Race. J Shanghai Uni Sport. 2007;31(2):64–73.

Publication types

MeSH terms