Abstract
During strenuous exercise in endurance athletes, monocytes are activated and there
is an acute inflammation and hypoxemia possibly due to lesional pulmonary edema. IL-6
and TNF-α released by monocytes may be implicated in the acute phase of lesional pulmonary
edema. A study was carried out to determine whether TNF-α and IL-6 are released during
strenuous exercise, and, if adrenalin released during exercise alters their generation.
Ten young and six master athletes underwent an incremental exercise test. Arterial
blood was drawn at rest, at the end of the exercise, and 20 minutes afterwards. Monocytes
were isolated and incubated for 18 hours in the presence or absence of adrenalin.
II-6 and TNF-α were measured in monocyte supernatants. The spontaneous release of
IL-6 or TNF-α was increased in young athletes when compared to older subjects. The
spontaneous release of TNF-α was increased, but not significantly, by exercise and
there was no correlation between the release of IL-6 and TNF-α and lung function measured
during hypoxemia. Adrenalin inhibited the release of IL-6 or TNF-α. Correlations were
observed between the in vitro release of IL-6 or TNF-α and age, V̇O2max, maximal ventilation and maximal power output of the subjects.
Key words
TNF-α - exercise - hypoxemia - monocytes - adrenalin
