URI in Athletes: Are Mucosal Immunity and Cytokine Responses Key Risk Factors?
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In Brief Infection incidence among athletes is highest during periods of intensified training and competition and after strenuous long-distance events. Which aspects of depressed immune function are responsible for this increased infection risk are not known, but our hypothesis is that lower salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA) secretion and a higher antiinflammatory cytokine response to antigen exposure are key determinants of infection risk. This article discusses the possibility that some immune variables may predict an athlete’s susceptibility to respiratory infections.
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Athletes may compromise their immune status with high training loads (over-reaching, over-training), which can increase the risk of illness such as URTIs.
“Athletes may compromise their immune status with high training loads (over-reaching, over-training) which can increase the risk of illness such as URTIs.”
From International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Probiotics (2019) · cites this paper as [199]
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- Authors
- Gleeson, M., & Bishop, N. C.
- Affiliations
- Loughborough University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Gleeson, Michael
- Venue
- Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews
- Published
- 2013-07
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 148-153
- ISSN
- 0091-6331 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1974124015
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 0.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- dspace.lboro.ac.uk
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Loughborough University Institutional Repository (Loughborough University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Loughborough University Research Repository (Loughborough University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Pediatric health and respiratory diseases
- Keywords
- upper respiratory tract infection, athletes, infection susceptibility, salivary IgA, immune function, anti-inflammatory cytokines, respiratory infections, exercise intensity, competition, long-distance running
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Respiratory Tract Infections, Exercise, Cytokines, Immunity, Mucosal, T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory, Athletes
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