Exploration of Immunology

Table 3. Blood components and immune responses considering the time factor (pre- vs. post-intervention) and the puberty stage

Blood variables	A16: Puberty 5-Tanner Scale		U16: Puberty < 4.5-Tanner Scale
Blood variables	Pre-training	Post-training	Pre-training	Post-training
WBC (× 10³/μL)	7.1 ± 1.4	6.7 ± 1.6	6.4 ± 1.5	6.6 ± 1.2
ESR (mm/h)	3.6 ± 3.0	3.3 ± 2.4	3.1 ± 1.8	3.7 ± 3.2
Platelets (× 10³/μL)	212 ± 50	205 ± 37	195 ± 54	208 ± 50
Neutrophils (%)	47 ± 5	55 ± 7^*	44 ± 8	51 ± 8^*
Neutrophils (× 10³/μL)	3.3 ± 0.7	3.9 ± 1^*	2.8 ± 0.9	3.2 ± 0.8^*
Lymphocytes (%)	41 ± 5	32 ± 7^*	42 ± 8	35 ± 8^*
Lymphocytes (× 10³/μL)	2.9 ± 0.6	2.3 ± 0.6	2.7 ± 0.8	2.3 ± 0.8
Monocytes (%)	8.7 ± 1.8	9.2 ± 2	9.4 ± 2	9.2 ± 2
Monocytes (× 10³/μL)	0.61 ± 0.17	0.64 ± 0.18	0.59 ± 0.16	0.57 ± 0.14
Eosinophils (%)	2.6 ± 1.4	2.9 ± 2.3	3.9 ± 2.4	3.8 ± 2.6
Eosinophils (× 10³/μL)	0.19 ± 0.12	0.19 ± 0.16	0.25 ± 0.17	0.26 ± 0.19
Basophils (%)	0.5 ± 0.3	0.6 ± 0.3	0.4 ± 0.2	0.4 ± 0.2
Basophils (× 10³/μL)	0.033 ± 0.02	0.044 ± 0.02	0.027 ± 0.01	0.026 ± 0.02
PLR	76.8 ± 24	100 ± 50^*	78.3 ± 30	103 ± 39^*
NLR	1.2 ± 0.3	1.8 ± 0.7^*	1.1 ± 0.4	1.6 ± 0.9^*
MLR	0.2 ± 0.05	0.3 ± 0.01^*	0.2 ± 0.08	0.3 ± 0.01
SIRI	10.3 ± 3.2	17 ± 7.7^*	10.5 ± 4.8	15.5 ± 10^*
Serum cortisol (nmol/L)	421 ± 110	343 ± 108^*	446 ± 137	371 ± 141^*

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WBC: white blood cell; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; PLR: platelets to lymphocytes ratio; NLR: neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio; MLR: monocytes to lymphocytes ratio; SIRI: systemic inflammation response index. ^* Statistical difference over-time, between pre- and post-training (P < 0.05)

Declarations

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the coaching teams’ members for their excellent collaboration and support throughout the study period. The excellent cooperation of the participants and their parents is strongly appreciated.

Author contributions

MH: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Project administration. EC and NZ: Data curation, Validation, Writing—review & editing. All authors read and approved the submitted version.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

The study conforms with the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki, 1964) and it was approved by the Institutional Research Ethics Committee (REC-010712).

Consent to participate

Written informed consent to participate in the study was obtained prior to any assessment from all participants and their parents.

Consent to publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this manuscript will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation, to any qualified researcher.

Funding

Not applicable.

Copyright

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