Exercise and the immune system: a model of the stress response?

Exercise influences natural immunity, T- and B-cell functions, and cytokine responses, through circulatory (hemodynamic) changes and by endocrine hormones secreted in response to physical stress. The magnitude of the effects on the immune system reflects the intensity, duration and chronicity of the exercise. In this review, Laurie Hoffman-Goetz and Bente Klarlund Pedersen suggest that exercise-immune interactions can be viewed as a subset of stress immunology.