Cardiovascular exercise training extends influenza vaccine seroprotection in sedentary older adults: the immune function intervention trial.

OBJECTIVES

To determine whether cardiovascular exercise training resulted in improved antibody responses to influenza vaccination in sedentary elderly people who exhibited poor vaccine responses.

DESIGN

Single-site randomized parallel-arm 10-month controlled trial.

SETTING

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred forty-four sedentary, healthy older (69.9 +/- 0.4) adults.

INTERVENTIONS

Moderate (60-70% maximal oxygen uptake) cardiovascular exercise was compared with flexibility and balance training.

MEASUREMENTS

The primary outcome was influenza vaccine response, as measured according to hemagglutination inhibition (HI) anti-influenza antibody titer and seroprotective responses (HI titer > or =40). Secondary measures included cardiovascular fitness and body composition.

RESULTS

Of the 160 participants enrolled, 144 (90%) completed the 10-month intervention with excellent compliance ( approximately 83%). Cardiovascular, but not flexibility, exercise intervention resulted in improvements in indices of cardiovascular fitness, including maximal oxygen uptake. Although not affecting peak (e.g., 3 and 6 weeks) postvaccine anti-influenza HI titers, cardiovascular exercise resulted in a significant increase in seroprotection 24 weeks after vaccination (30-100% dependent on vaccine variant), whereas flexibility training did not.

CONCLUSION

Participants randomized to cardiovascular exercise experienced improvements in influenza seroprotection throughout the entire influenza season, whereas those in the balance and flexibility intervention did not. Although there were no differences in reported respiratory tract infections, the exercise group exhibited reduced overall illness severity and sleep disturbance. These data support the hypothesis that regular endurance exercise improves influenza vaccine responses.