european college of sport science

Thursday, June 25th, 2009
BRONCHIAL EPITHELIAL DAMAGE INDUCED BY INTENSE EXERCISE IN RUNNERS
CHIMENTI, L., BONSIGNORE, M.R., PATERNÒ, A., SANTAGATA, R., MORICI, G.
UNIVERSITY OF PALERMO
Introduction: We previously reported increased neutrophils (PMN) in induced sputum (IS) of nonasthmatic runners at rest and after a
Marathon (M) race (Bonsignore et al, 2001) and training-induced mild epithelial damage in a mice model (Chimenti et al, 2007). To further
characterize airway cell composition, IS samples were analyzed in experienced endurance runners at rest (R) and after Half Marathon
(HM) races.
Methods
IS samples (NaCl 5%) were collected in 9 runners (mean age±SD: 40±4 yr, training volume: 85±26 km/week) at rest (3 days pre-race) and
shortly after HM races
held in October, May and November.
Results: Differently from the results in M runners, PMN were unchanged or decreased after HM, while bronchial epithelial cell (BEC) differential
counts increased after all HM races (% BEC: October, 0.9±1.2 at R, 27.7±21.5* after HM; May, 1.7±2.6 at R, 33.3±21.8* after
HM; November, 1.5±2.6 at R, 22.6±26.9* after HM; *p