Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37997928›Full record

ReviewSports health

Exercise Immunology Applied to Pediatric Sport and the Importance of Monitoring Stages of Puberty and Biological Maturation.

Paulo Francisco de Almeida-Neto, Jason Azevedo de Medeiros, Jason R Jaggers, Ayrton Bruno de Morais Ferreira, Gilmara Gomes de Assis, Breno Guilherme de Araújo Tinôco Cabral, Paulo Moreira Silva Dantas

Open access · greenAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Sports health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Lifelong Exercise as a Modulator of CD4European journal of clinical investigation · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Paulo Francisco de Almeida-NetoHealth Sciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-2860-2260
Jason Azevedo de MedeirosHealth Sciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte Brazil.
Jason R JaggersDepartment of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky.ORCID 0000-0002-2567-615X
Ayrton Bruno de Morais FerreiraDepartment of Physical Education, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-0319-3931
Gilmara Gomes de AssisDepartment of Physiology and Pathology - São Paulo State University, Araquaquara, São Paulo, Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-7198-3601
Breno Guilherme de Araújo Tinôco CabralHealth Sciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-9966-9956
Paulo Moreira Silva DantasHealth Sciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte Brazil.ORCID 0000-0002-9217-7107
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte · BRUniversidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) · BRUniversity of Louisville · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

contextExercise immunology is aimed at understanding how exercise sessions can affect the immune system in athletic subjects of different age groups. The objective of the current study was to discuss in which stage of biological maturation (BM) young athletes may be more vulnerable in relation to the immune system, and whether there is a BM range in which it is safer to perform sports training with strenuous exercise loads. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Evidence from scientific research from several scientific disciplines (eg, immunology, sport immunology, pediatrics, sports medicine, human development) was gathered to holistically examine the main particularities of exercise immunology as applied to pediatric sport. STUDY

designNarrative review. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 5.

resultsIn pediatric patients, lymphoid tissue expands during puberty and involutes after puberty until it returns to pre-expansion values. This suggests that there is a specific period in which the immune system may be stronger, which may provide opportunities for strenuous exercise in pediatric athletes. However, the chronological period when puberty occurs will be determined by BM, which is the rate at which the biological systems of the human body improves. This may affect the period of lymphoid tissue expansion and, consequently, the behavior of the immune system in pediatric subjects of the same age category.

conclusionDuring puberty, there is a significant increase in the proinflammatory profile; to compensate for this, there is an expansion of lymphoid tissue that may favor the efficiency of the immune system. The period in which puberty is reached may vary according to the stages of BM. Therefore, in exercise immunology applied to pediatric sports, in addition to external and internal training loads, it is necessary to consider BM and puberty, which have been shown to be safer biomarkers than chronological age for determining immune system behavior in pediatric athletes. STRENGTH-OF-RECOMMENDATION TAXONOMY (SORT): Evidence B level 3.

Indexed as

ExerciseImmune SystemPubertySexual MaturationAdolescentChildHumansLymphoid TissueYouth Sportsadolescentsimmune systemmaturityopen windowtraining load

Identifiers

PMID37997928
PMCPMC11632878
OpenAlexW4388971573

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.