Veränderungen des Immunsystems bei der Modulation des physiologischen Altersprozesses durch freiwilliges körperliches Training und/oder kalorische Futterreduktion bei der Ratte

The immune system is fundamentally involved in normal vertebrate ageing, leading to increased susceptibility to diseases with age. Moderate physical exercise as well as food restriction have been both discussed to help to reverse some of the adverse effects of ageing upon the immune system. However, little is known regarding underlying mechanisms and synergistic effects. In order to elucidate some of these effects on the ageing immune system comparatively we analyze significant immune parameters in an ageing rat colony. We compared the effects of these interventions on male Sprague-Dawley rats from the age of 5 to 23 months in the following groups (n = 32): 1. RW (voluntary exercise by running in wheels), 2. PW (food restricted by feeding to pair weight with RW animals), 3. TM (forced exercise by training in a treadmill), 4. S1 (sedentary with ad libitum access to food, solitary housing) and 5. S4 (sedentary with ad libitum access to food, group housing). White blood cell count, differential blood cell count, lymphocyte proliferation, NK-cell activity and the plasma concentrations of IL-2 were examined. Our preliminary data support the idea that for the modulation of ageing effects in the immune system voluntary physical exercise appears to be even more ameliorating than food restriction and forced exercise. However, care must be taken in analyses, since RW is a heterogeneous group and there are large variations with respect to the animals` daily running distances

Zentrum für Biologische Wissenschaften