Effects of rugby sevens matches on human neutrophil-related nonspecific immunity

Ippei Takahashi ^1*, Takashi Umeda ¹, Toshiyuki Mashiko ¹, Daisuke Chinda ¹, Takao Oyama ¹, Kazuo Sugawara ¹ and Shigeyuki Nakaji ¹

¹ Department of Social Medicine, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, Japan

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: h02gm303{at}cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp.

Accepted 18 September 2006

Abstract

Aims We evaluated the influences of the accumulative effect of two consecutive rugby sevens matches on aspects of human neutrophil-related nonspecific immunity.

Methods In 7 players participating in the Japan Sevens, neutrophil reactive oxygen specie (ROS) production capability and phagocytic activity (PA) were measured with flow cytometry, and serum opsonic activity (SOA) was assessed by measuring neutrophil ROS using the peak height (PH) of lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence (LgCL) before and after the two consecutive matches.

Results ROS showed no change immediately after the first match, and had significantly increased 4 hours later, but showed a decrease after the second match. PA showed no change immediately after the first match, but had significantly decreased 4 hours later, and showed a further decrease after the second match, though it was not significant. SOA significantly increased after the first match, and still maintained their high 4 hours later, but decreased after the second match. Namely, ROS production capability, PA and SOA significantly decreased after the second match together.

Conclusions When rugby players plays two consecutive matches in a rugby Sevens, the exercise loading is thought to be very hard, similar to that experienced during a marathon race and intensive/long training in a training camp, though such changes were not seen after the first match. Such differences between after the first match and the second match may be due to the "cumulative effect".

Key Words: neutrophil, phagocytic activity, reactive oxygen species, rugby sevens, serum opsonic activity

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