The physical exercise-induced oxidative/inflammatory response in peripheral blood mononuclear cells: Signaling cellular energetic stress situations

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are a variety of specialized immune cells produced in the bone marrow from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that work together to protect our bodies from harmful pathogens. From a metabolic point of view, these cells can serve as sentinel tissue source for distinguishing multiple types of whole-body physiological perturbations. The significant interaction of PBMCs with systemic physiology makes these cells an attractive target for several interventions such as physical exercise. Analyses of oxidative/inflammatory and metabolic markers of PBMCs obtained from unhealthy and healthy humans have been used in monitoring immune response in different exercise conditions. It is already a common consensus that regular practice of physical exercise, that is planned, structured, and repetitive, influences personal health by altering the metabolic state and the immune system. However, the role of distinct metabolic processes responsible for maintaining metabolic balance during physical exercise in PBMCs is not fully understood. Furthermore, a complete dose-response analysis between different exercise protocols and biomarkers capable of predicting physical performance needs to be better elucidated. The absence of published reviews on this topic compromises the understanding of the crosstalk between the metabolic adaptations of PBMCs and exercise-induced changes in the immune system. Given the above, this review highlights the main findings in the literature involving the responses of PBMCs in the inflammatory/oxidative stress induced by physical exercise. The present review also highlights how distinct phenotypes and functional diversity of PBMCs make these cells an accessible alternative for assessing exercise-induced metabolic adaptations.