Background: Elevated total white blood cell (WBC) count is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and\r\ndeath. Aerobic exercise is associated with lower total WBC, neutrophil, and monocyte counts. However, no studies have\r\nevaluated the effect of the amount of aerobic exercise (dose) on total WBC and WBC subfraction counts.\r\nPurpose: To examine the effects of 3 different doses of aerobic exercise on changes in total WBC and WBC subfraction\r\ncounts and independent effects of changes in fitness, adiposity, markers of inflammation (IL-6, TNF-a, C-reactive protein),\r\nfasting glucose metabolism, and adiponectin.\r\nMethods: Data from 390 sedentary, overweight/obese postmenopausal women from the DREW study were used in these\r\nanalyses. Women were randomized to a non-exercise control group or one of 3 exercise groups: energy expenditure of 4, 8,\r\nor 12 kcal kg21?week21 (KKW) for 6 months at an intensity of 50% VO2peak.\r\nResults: A dose-dependent decrease in total WBC counts (trend P = 0.002) was observed with a significant decrease in the\r\n12KKW group (2163.16140.0 cells/mL; mean695%CI) compared with the control (138.66144.7 cells/mL). A similar response\r\nwas seen in the neutrophil subfraction (trend P = 0.001) with a significant decrease in the 12KKW group (2152.66115.1\r\ncells/mL) compared with both the control and 4KKW groups (96.46119.0 and 21.9695.3 cells/mL, respectively) and in the\r\n8KKW group (2102.46125.0 cells/mL) compared with the control. When divided into high/low baseline WBC categories\r\n(median split), a dose-dependent decrease in both total WBCs (P = 0.003) and neutrophils (P,0.001) was observed in\r\nwomen with high baseline WBC counts. The effects of exercise dose on total WBC and neutrophil counts persisted after\r\naccounting for significant independent effects of change in waist circumference and IL-6.\r\nConclusion: Aerobic exercise training reduces total WBC and neutrophil counts, in a dose-dependent manner, in\r\noverweight/obese postmenopausal women and is especially beneficial for those with systemic low grade inflammation.
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