Summary: 90 minutes of light-to-moderate intensity exercise immediately after a flu or COVID shot can help provide an additional immune boost.
Fountain: Iowa State University
Researchers at Iowa State University found that 90 minutes of light-to-moderate intensity exercise directly after a flu or COVID-19 shot can provide an additional immune boost.
In the recently published study, participants who rode a stationary bike or walked briskly for an hour and a half after receiving an injection produced more antibodies over the next four weeks compared to participants who sat or continued their daily routine post-immunization. The researchers found similar results when they conducted an experiment with mice and treadmills.
Antibodies are essentially the body’s “search and destroy” line of defense against viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Vaccines help the immune system learn how to identify something foreign and respond by strengthening the body’s defenses, including raising antibodies.
“Our preliminary results are the first to show that a specific amount of time can enhance the body’s antibody response to the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine and two influenza vaccines,” said lead author Marian Kohut, professor of kinesiology. of the article published in the newspaper Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
The researchers said the study findings could directly benefit people with a range of fitness levels. Nearly half of the participants in the experiment had a BMI in the overweight or obese category. During 90 minutes of exercise, they focused on maintaining a pace that kept their heart rate between 120 and 140 beats per minute rather than distance.
In the study, the researchers also tested whether participants could get the same antibody boost from just 45 minutes of exercise. They found that the shorter workout did not increase the participants’ antibody levels. Kohut said the research team can test whether 60 minutes is enough to generate a response in a follow-up study.
Why the push?
As for why prolonged light-to-moderate intensity exercise might improve the body’s immune response, Kohut said there may be a number of reasons. Exercising increases blood and lymph flow, which helps immune cells circulate. As these cells move through the body, they are more likely to detect something foreign.
The data from the mouse experiment also suggested that a type of protein (ie interferon alpha) produced during exercise helps generate virus-specific antibodies and T cells.
“But much more research is needed to answer why and how. There are so many changes that take place when we exercise: metabolic, biochemical, neuroendocrine, circulatory. So there is probably a combination of factors contributing to the antibody response that we found in our study,” Kohut said.
The researchers continue to track the antibody response in participants six months after immunization and have launched another study focusing on the effects of exercise in people receiving booster injections.
Postdoctoral researcher Tyanez Jones, graduate assistant Jessica Alley, and Justus Hallam, a graduate student at the time of the study, co-authored the recently published paper with Marian Kohut. Kohut said the research team also received a lot of help from college students, including students in ISU’s Science Bound Scholars Program.
About this research news on the immune system and exercise
Author: Rachel Crmer
Fountain: Iowa State University
Contact: Rachel Cramer – Iowa State University
Image: The image is in the public domain.
original research: Open access.
“Exercise after influenza or COVID-19 vaccination increases serum antibodies without increased side effects” by Marian Kohut et al. Brain, behavior and immunity
Abstract
Exercise after influenza or COVID-19 vaccination increases serum antibodies without increased side effects
Vaccination is an effective public health measure, but vaccine efficacy varies among different populations. Adjuvants improve vaccine efficacy but often increase reactogenicity. An unconventional behavioral “adjuvant” is physical exercise at the time of vaccination.
Here, in separate experiments, we examined the effect of 90 minutes of light-to-moderate intensity cycle ergometer or outdoor walking/jogging aerobic exercise performed once after immunization on the serum antibody response to three different vaccines (pandemic H1N1 2009, seasonal influenza, and COVID-19).
The exercise was performed after influenza vaccination or after the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. A mouse model of influenza A immunization was used to examine the effect of exercise on antibody response and the role of IFNα as a potential mechanism when treating mice with anti-IFNα antibodies.
The results show that 90 min of exercise consistently increased serum antibodies to each vaccine four weeks after immunization, and IFNα may partially contribute to the exercise-related benefit. Exercise did not increase side effects after COVID-19 vaccination.
These findings suggest that adults who exercise regularly may increase the antibody response to the influenza or COVID-19 vaccine by engaging in a single bout of light-to-moderate intensity exercise after immunization.
