Immune System Function and its Relation to Depression: How Exercise can Alter the Immune System-Depression Dynamics

Using data of 2,057 participants in the Dutch Lifelines database we explore the relationship between innate immune system response and acute (depressed for 2 weeks) or chronic (depressed for 2 years) depression in people. We then explore how riding a bicycle, a popular sport and mode of transport in the Netherlands, moderates this relationship. Focusing on acute depression, we found it associated with higher eosinophil, neutrophil and basophilic...