Changes in Cell Viability and Concentration of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Following Nasal Breathing Exercise

Authors

Minh Quan Le, Baylor UniversityFollow
Emily Jones, Baylor UniversityFollow
Brady Johnson, Baylor UniversityFollow
Tesleem O. Imran, Baylor UniversityFollow
Jose M. Moris, Texas A&M International UniversityFollow
Yunsuk Koh, Baylor UniversityFollow

Abstract

Nasal breathing during exercise induces hypercapnic conditions, which have been shown to improve exercise performance and potentially influence immune and redox responses. Whether nasal breathing during exercise training alters peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) resilience to an ex vivo inflammatory challenge is unknown. OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether 4 weeks of moderate-intensity exercise with nasal breathing could alter PBMC viability and concentration following ex vivo lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. METHODS: Nine healthy sedentary men (19–28 years) were randomized either to nasal breathing (NB; n=5) or combined (oral + nasal) breathing (CB; n=4). Both groups exercised on a cycle at moderate intensity (70% VO₂max) for 30 minutes per day (4×/week) for 4 weeks. Blood samples were collected pre- and immediately post-exercise at baseline and after 4 weeks of intervention. PBMCs were isolated and cultured with or without LPS (1 µg/mL). Cell viability (%) and PBMC concentration (×10⁴ cells/mL) were assessed at 3 h and 12 h post culture. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in cell viability and concentration between the NB and CB groups. However, when the two groups were combined, whereas PBMC cell viability significantly decreased by 3.6% (94.84±0.53% to 91.53±0.78%, p=0.001) following the 4-week exercise intervention. Additionally, PBMC concentration was significantly lower (p=0.018) with LPS stimulation (164.07±16.12 ×10⁴ cells/mL) as compared with no LPS stimulation (184.01±21.06 ×10⁴ cells/mL). A significant training by LPS intervention revealed that PBMC concentration after an acute bout of exercise at pre-training was significantly higher without LPS stimulation than with LPS stimulation (187.847±27.037 ×10⁴ cells/mL vs. 145.310±14.891×10⁴ cells/mL, p=0.011). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that nasal breathing during moderate-intensity cycling exercise did not improve PBMC viability or concentration under ex vivo LPS stimulation. However, the observed decrease in PBMC viability following 4-week intervention, along with reduced cell counts after LPS stimulation compared to unstimulated controls, indicates that moderate exercise in general modestly impacts PBMC viability while preserving overall cell concentration and functional responsiveness.

Recommended Citation

Le, Minh Quan; Jones, Emily; Johnson, Brady; Imran, Tesleem O.; Moris, Jose M.; and Koh, Yunsuk (2026) "Changes in Cell Viability and Concentration of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Following Nasal Breathing Exercise," International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 2: Iss. 18, Article 128.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol2/iss18/128