Mucosal IgA Response to Repeated Wingate Tests in Females

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of repeated bouts of brief, intermittent, maximal effort exercise on the concentration of secretory IgA (S-IgA) and incidence of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) in females. Twenty-six non-smoking, active, adult females participated in this study. The exercise intervention consisted of three consecutive, all-out 30-second Wingate leg cycling tests (0.075 kg/kg body mass), which were separated by three minutes of recovery. Unstimulated saliva was collected prior to (PRE) and five minutes after completion (POST) of the exercise testing protocol. IgA, protein and osmolality were measured, and secretory IgA (S-IgA), IgA : Protein, and IgA : Osmolality were calculated. In addition, subjects completed standard logs indicating signs and symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) for three weeks following the test. Saliva flow rates (478.5 ± 50; 345.4 ± 50 µl/min), S-IgA (55.8 ± 4.7; 35.4 ± 3.6 µg/min), and IgA : Protein ratio (30.7 ± 3.0; 17.5 ± 1.8 µg IgA/mg protein) were significantly lower POST compared to PRE (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed for raw IgA, protein, osmolality, and IgA : osmolality. The results of this study show that brief, intermittent, maximal effort exercise results in an acute decrease in S-IgA in healthy adult females in less than eight minutes. However, this exercise induced transient decrease did not appear to be associated with an increase in clinical symptoms of URTI in the weeks following the exercise test intervention.