The hormonal response to exercise in asthma.

The hormonal responses to exercise of 10 asthmatic patients and 12 normal subjects were compared by studying the changes in the plasma levels of growth hormone, prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol induced by treadmill running. The asthmatic patients demonstrated absence of the plasma cortisol response to exercise (peak increment -15 +/- 21 (SEM) vs 108 +/- 34 nmol.l-1 p less than 0.02). None of these patients were being treated with systemic corticosteroids and there was no difference between the responses of users and non-users of beclomethasone dipropionate. The results suggest the presence of an impaired adrenocortical response to the stress of physical exercise in asthma and indicate the need for detailed evaluation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function in patients with the disease.