Exercise and neuroendocrine regulation of antibody production: Protective effect of physical activity on stress-induced suppression of the specific antibody response

It has been convincingly demonstrated that the in vivo immune response is n ot fully autonomous. Clearly, functional interactions exist between the neu roendocrine system and the immune system that operate during the generation of normal in vivo immune responses. in addition to playing an important re gulatory role in the absence of perturbation, the same neuroendocrine signa ls that facilitate immune function in a nonstressed organism may suppress i mmune function in a physiologically or psychologically stressed organism. G iven the complexity of these interactions, the current paper will focus on neuroendocrine modulation of one important dimension of acquired immunity, the in vivo antibody response to a benign protein (keyhole limpet hemocyani n, KLH). In addition, only the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (corticostero ne) response and the sympathetic nervous system (norepinephrine and epineph rine) response will be discussed. The current paper will 1) examine the cel lular steps involved in the antibody response to KLH; 2) describe the speci fic cellular consequences of acute stresser exposure on this response; 3) d escribe the evidence for corticosterone and catecholamine modulation of the in vivo antibody response during quiescent and stressed states; and 4) pre sent data that support the hypothesis that regular, moderate, physical acti vity can prevent the neuroendocrine and detrimental immunological effects o f stress.