Effects of exercise training on immunological factors in kidney transplant recipients; a randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a 12 week exercise training on the immune system of kidney transplant recipients. 23 kidney transplant recipients were randomly divided into two groups including control (n = 10) and training (n =13) groups. The training groups participated in the training for 10 weeks (three days a week; each day 60-90 minutes). The control group performed no regular exercise during this time. The blood samples were taken before and after 12 weeks. ELISA and Real-time PCR were used to evaluate cytokine profiles, including TNF-a, IL-6, IL-4, IL-31 and IL-35 as well as T-bet, GATA-3, RORYt and FOXP3, respectively. Finally, the data were analyzed, using paired T-test. ELISA results showed decreased levels of TNF- α, increased levels of IL-6 and no significant differences in the IL-35, IL-31 and IL-4 levels in the training group in comparison to the control group. Gene expression profiles showed significantly increased expression of T-bet and no changes in the GATA-3, RORYt and FOXP3 levels. According to these results, a moderate exercise including aerobic and resistance training could inhibit inflammatory cytokines and have beneficial effects on the immune system, but this issue needs further research.

KEYWORDS:

• Exercise training
• immunological factors
• renal transplantation

Author contributions statement

MHK and MS conceived the original idea and planned the experiments. All authors provided critical feedback and helped manage the research, analysis and manuscript. NH and SK performed the experiment with support from NJT and JR. MAA and MKJ planned and performed the statistical analyses. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript. MHK took the lead in writing the manuscript.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to announce their appreciation to all patients participated in this study. This study was supported by grant no.94/214 from Transplant Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The anonymized data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by grant no.94/214 from Transplant Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences;Shiraz Transplant Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences [94/214];