Effect of Aerobic Training on Immunoglobulin A, Blood Lymphocytes, and Neutrophils: A systematic Review and Meta-analysis

The results of several studies suggest that suggest that physical activity causes changes in immune system indicators and affects viral infections of the respiratory tract. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of aerobic exercise on blood lymphocytes, salivary immunoglobulin A and neutrophils as a systematic and meta-analysis.

The databases including MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane and Scopus were searched with keywords from 1900 to 2020 AD. After the initial screening, the full text of the articles was evaluated and the articles that were included in the research criteria were analyzed. 260 articles were found, and among the articles reviewed, 11 articles were the criteria for systematic and meta-analysis. Accordingly, 812 people were divided into two control groups and 401 and 411 experimental groups, respectively.

The results showed that between the two groups of aerobic activity and control group in salivary immunoglobulin A levels (P = 0.71, SE = 0.23, V = 0.06, CI = -0.37 0.55 Z = 0.38), blood lymphocytes (P = 0.33, SE = 0.11, V = 0.01, CI = -0.11 0.32 Z = 0.98), neutrophils (P = 0.11, SE = 0.15, V = 0.02, CI = -0.55 0.05 Z = -1.61) and the number of days infected with the virus (P = 0.33, SE = 0.21, V = 0.04, CI = -0.61 0.21 Z = -0.96) There was no difference between physical activity group and control group.

The results of the present meta-analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the control group and the aerobic training group on blood lymphocytes, salivary immunoglobulin A and neutrophils. Given that, the number of studies and participants was very small and the quality of studies was relatively poor. It appears to be necessary to determine the association between blood lymphocytes, salivary immunoglobulin A, and neutrophils with aerobic activity, higher quality studies, and larger sample size.