Effects of a bout of traditional and original sumo training on neutrophil immune function in amateur university sumo wrestlers

In order to examine in detail the influence on the neutrophil immune function in sumo wrestlers of performing traditional and original training we examined changes in the neutrophil immune function in 17 male amateur university sumo wrestlers (aged 20.2 ±1.5 years), before ('Pre') and after the training ('Post') for 2.5 h under fasting conditions. Assays included blood leukocyte and neutrophil counts, serum concentration of immunoglobulins, complements, myogenic enzymes and neutrophil oxidative burst activity (OBA) and phagocytic activity (PA). Myogenic enzymes, neutrophil counts, the ratio of neutrophil counts:leukocyte counts significantly increased and immunoglobulins and complements decreased in Post compared with Pre. There was a positive correlation between the change of neutrophil counts before and after the training and the change of creatine kinase (r = 0.667, p < 0.01). The Post OBA significantly increased and PA significantly decreased compared with Pre. It was concluded that sumo training causes muscular damage and an increase in the neutrophil count as a response. In this time, although OBA increased, PA decreased after training. Compensation between PA and reactive oxygen species production may exist to maintain the overall integrity of the neutrophil immune function.