Systemic inflammatory response to exhaustive exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Contains fulltext : 48447.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Systemic inflammation may be present in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Exercise is known to elicit an inflammatory response. We hypothesized that the systemic inflammatory response to exercise might be exaggerated in COPD patients compared to healthy subjects. Sixteen COPD patients and 11 healthy subjects performed a maximal incremental bicycle test. Before and at maximal exercise arterial blood samples were taken to determine circulating catecholamines, (subsets of) leukocytes, acute phase proteins, creatine kinase and myoglobin. At rest, increased levels of norepinephrine and systemic inflammation were present in COPD. The response of catecholamines to exercise was lower in COPD patients (P<0.01), which in part was due to the lower maximal exercise capacity of these patients (P<0.01). Exercise-induced leukocytosis showed similar responses in both groups, but occurred at higher levels in COPD. Although patients had increased levels of CRP at rest (P