Immune and inflammatory responses to freediving calculated from leukocyte gene expression profiles

19Citations
Citations of this article
49Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Freedivers hold their breath while diving, causing blood oxygen levels to decrease (hypoxia) while carbon dioxide increases (hypercapnia). Whereas blood gas changes are presumably involved in the progression of respiratory diseases, less is known about their effect on healthy individuals. Here we have used gene expression profiling to analyze elite athletes’ immune and inflammatory responses to freediving. Blood was collected before and 1 and 3 h after a series of maximal dynamic and static freediving apneas in a pool, and peripheral blood gene expression was mapped on genome-wide microarrays. Fractions of phenotypically distinct immune cells were computed by deconvolution of the gene expression data using Cibersort software. Changes in gene activity and associated biological pathways were determined using R and GeneGo software. The results indicated a temporary increase of neutrophil granulocytes, and a decrease of cytotoxic lymphocytes; i.e., CD8+ T cells and resting NK cells. Biological pathway associations indicated possible protective reactions: genes involved in anti-inflammatory responses to proresolving lipid mediators were upregulated, whereas central factors involved in granule-mediated lymphocyte cytotoxicity were downregulated. While it remains unresolved whether freediving alters the immune system’s defensive function, these results provide new insight into leukocyte responses and the protection of homeostasis in healthy athletes.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Eftedal, I., Flatberg, A., Drvis, I., & Dujic, Z. (2016). Immune and inflammatory responses to freediving calculated from leukocyte gene expression profiles. Physiological Genomics, 48(11), 795–802. https://doi.org/10.1152/physiolgenomics.00048.2016

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free