The effect of aerobic exercise on immune biomarkers and symptoms severity and progression in patients with COVID-19: A randomized control trial
Ayman A Mohamed, Motaz Alawna
Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2021.07.012
Background: The World Health Organization in March 2020 has announced that COVID-19 is a world pandemic because the number of infected cases increases rapidly. however, there are several available vaccines, their protection is limited to a certain period. Thus, the role of modalities that improve immune functions should be performed to counter COVID-19 viral load and decrease mortality rates. Objective: To investigate the effect of aerobic exercise on immune biomarkers, disease severity, and progression in patients with COVID-19. Design: A randomized controlled study. Participants: Thirty patients with COVID-19 participated in this study. Participants' age ranged from 24 to 45 years old. Participants had a mild or moderate COVID-19. Participants were assigned randomly into two groups, exercise and control groups. There were two main dependent variables including blood immune markers and severity of respiratory symptoms. Interventions: All participants performed 2 weeks of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for 40 min/ session, 3 sessions/week. The measurements were performed at baseline, and after 2-weeks. Results: At baseline measurements, there were non-significant differences between both groups in the Wisconsin scale total score, Leucocytes, Lymphocytes, Interleukin-6, Interleukin-10, Immunoglobulin-A, and TNF-a (P > .05). After the intervention, the Wisconsin scale (patient-oriented illness-specific qualityof-life) total score significantly decreased in the intervention group (P < .05); while, Leucocytes, Lymphocytes, and Immunoglobulin-A significantly increased in the intervention group (P < .05).
Conclusion: The current study indicated that 2 weeks of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise decreased the severity and progression of COVID-19 associated disorders and quality of life. Also, a 2-weeks of aerobic exercise positively affected immune function by increasing the amounts of Leucocytes, Lymphocytes, Immunoglobulin A.
Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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