In a previous study, we demonstrated that exhaustive exercise suppressed peritoneal macrophage antigen presentation (AP). In this study, we explored the intracellular mechanism(s) responsible for this suppression. Pathogen-free male BALB/c mice (8 +/- 2 wk) were randomly assigned to either home cage control (HCC) or exhaustive exercise stress (Exh, 18-30 m/min for 3 h/day) treatment groups. The mice underwent treatments for a period of 4 days during induced peritoneal thioglycollate inflammation. Elicited macrophages were harvested, purified, and incubated with chicken ovalbumin (C-Ova, 2. 5 and 10 mg/ml) for 18 h. After macrophages were washed, they were cocultured with C-Ova-specific T cells for 48 h at which time the supernates were harvested and analyzed via ELISA for interleukin (IL)-2 as an indication of macrophage AP. There was no significant (P > 0.05) difference in macrophage AP between cells fixed with paraformaldehyde vs. those that remained unfixed, suggesting that Exh did not affect production of soluble factors influencing macrophage AP (i.e., IL-1, IL-4, PGE(2)). The ability of macrophages to generate C-Ova immunogenic peptides was analyzed using FITC-labeled C-Ova, which shows fluorescence only when degraded intracellularly. There was a significant ( approximately 20%, P < 0. 05) suppression in fluorescence in the Exh compared with HCC, indicating a possible defect in the ability of macrophages from Exh to degrade C-Ova into immunogenic peptides. Macrophages were also incubated with C-Ova immunogenic peptide in a manner identical to that for native C-Ova. We found a similar suppression ( approximately 22-38%, P < 0.05) in macrophage AP using a C-Ova peptide when compared with native C-Ova in the Exh group, indicating reduced major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II loading and/or C-Ova-MHC II complex cell surface expression. In conclusion, these data indicate an intracellular defect in the macrophage antigen processing pathway induced by Exh.