Elsevier

Physiology & Behavior

Volume 164, Part A, 1 October 2016, Pages 390-394
Physiology & Behavior

Physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in young adults

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.06.026Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The effect of physical activity (PA) on cell-mediated immunity is unclear.

  • This effect of PA on health outcomes may be confounded by sedentary behaviors (SB).

  • We studied the associations between PA, SB, and EBV antibody levels.

  • PA and SB are associated with EBV antibody levels.

Abstract

This study aimed to elucidate the associations between physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibody levels (as an indirect marker of cell-mediated immunity, CMI). This study made use of a 14-year longitudinal study with a representative sample of adolescents in the US. A total of 3361 participants (42.1% male) aged 11 to 21 years at baseline who completed Wave I (1994–1995), Wave III (2001  2002), and Wave IV (2008) surveys of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) were analyzed. Physical activity and sedentary behaviors at Waves I and III were assessed using interviewer-administered questionnaire. EBV viral capsid antigen (VCA) IgG antibody levels at Wave IV were analyzed from dried blood spot assays. Adjusted for confounders, among males, one additional day spent per week on strenuous sports at Wave III were associated with a decrease of 4.09 AU/ml in EBV antibody levels (p = 0.012), while one additional hour spent per week viewing videos at Wave I was associated with an increase of 0.83 AU/ml in EBV antibody levels (p = 0.026). Among females, one additional day spent per week on individual sports at Wave III were associated with a decrease of 4.63 AU/ml in EBV antibody levels (p = 0.014), while sedentary behaviors were not associated with EBV antibody levels. To conclude, physical activity and sedentary behaviors were associated with CMI among males and physical activity was associated with CMI among females.

Introduction

The level of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibody is not only the aetiological agent responsible for infectious mononucleosis [1], but its serological response is also an indirect marker of psycho-social stress [2] and failure of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) [3], [4]. An elevated level of EBV antibody is an indirect marker of CMI. Most EBV infection occurs in childhood [5] and the virus persists in the body for life. The maintenance of EBV in a latent state relies on the functionality of CMI, and CMI limits EBV reactivation and prevents future systemic disease [6]. Elevated EBV antibodies are the result of a failure of CMI to prevent the reactivation of the latent EBV [7], and research has demonstrated that EBV reactivation was associated with delayed-type hypersensitivity, an indicator of the CMI [8].

Although physical activity is a modifiable lifestyle factor that can protect against and alleviate various morbidities [9], it may also be effective in improving our CMI [10]. However, the association between EBV antibody levels and physical activity is unclear. Studies have shown that prolonged and intense exercise were not associated with CMI among male triathletes [11]. In addition, acute eccentric exercise, i.e. lateral raise exercise, did not improve CMI response to influenza vaccination among young adults [12]. Other studies showed that young Caucasian athletes had lower EBV IgG antibody levels than their non-athletes counterparts [13], and Tai Chi was effective in increasing CMI to varicella zoster virus (VZV) among elderly subjects [14]. It is hypothesized that these contradictory findings were confounded by time spent sitting or sedentary behaviors, which are negatively associated with time spent undertaking physical activities and also independently associated with increased mortality [15]. This study aimed to elucidate the associations between physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and EBV antibody levels using a representative sample of young adolescents in the US from a 14-year longitudinal study (National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health, Add Health 1994–2008). We hypothesized that EBV antibody levels would be negatively associated with physical activity and positively associated with sedentary behaviors.

Section snippets

Participants

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) is a longitudinal study of adolescents of grade 7 to 12 in United States at 1994–1995 (Wave I), and three follow-ups were conducted at 1996 (Wave II), 2001–2002 (Wave III), and 2008 (Wave IV). The sample of the Add Health included 80 nationally representative high schools and one single randomly chosen feeder school from the 60 high schools that did not have a 7th grade in the United States. All schools were selected through a

Results

A total of 3361 participants were included in the analysis. The EBV VCA IgG antibody levels in this sample were 166.3 (SD 97.8) AU/ml. A significant difference (p < 0.001) was found between male (151.9 (SD 91.8) AU/ml) and female (176.8 (SD 103.9) AU/ml) participants.

The demographic characteristics of the Add Health 1994–2008 male sample (n = 1416, 42.1%) is shown in Supplementary Table S1. Those who spent more hours viewing videos at Wave I, with a lower annual household income, a father did not have

Discussion

Most of the studies examining the effect of physical activity on immune function were on older adults as they are at a higher risk for immune dysfunction [22]. Minimal research has been performed in young adults [22], and to the best of our knowledge this is the first to support the associations between physical activity, sedentary behavior, and CMI using longitudinal data on adolescents with a follow-up of 14 years. The results of this study only supported part of my hypothesis. Specifically,

Funding

None.

Conflict of interest

None.

Acknowledgment

The author received no funding for this study. The author discloses no conflict of interest. No financial support was received for this manuscript. This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with

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