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Original article
Changes in lung function during exercise are independently mediated by increases in deep body temperature
  1. Michael J Tipton1,
  2. Pippa Kadinopoulos2,
  3. Dan Roiz de Sa1,3,
  4. Martin J Barwood4
  1. 1 Department of Sport and Exercise Science, Extreme Environments Laboratory (EEL), University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
  2. 2 HMS Nelson, HM Naval Base Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
  3. 3 Environmental Medicine & Science Unit, Institute of Naval Medicine, Gosport, UK
  4. 4 Department of Sport, Health and Nutrition, Leeds Trinity University, Leeds, UK
  1. Correspondence to Michael J Tipton; michael.tipton{at}port.ac.uk

Abstract

Background This study examined whether an increase in deep body temperature contributes to increases in ventilatory flow indicative of bronchodilatation.

Method The study employed a within-participant repeated measures design. Nine participants (mean (SD): age 22 (3) years; height 177.7 (8.3) cm; mass 80.2 (19.1) kg) completed three conditions: exercise (EXERC; 30 min); 40°C water immersion (IMM40; 30 min) to passively raise rectal temperature (Tre) and 35°C immersion (IMM35; 30 min) asa thermoneutral control for IMM40. A forced vital capacity (FVC) manoeuvre was performed at the start of the test and every 10 min thereafter. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), FEV1/FVC, 25%, 50% and 75% maximal expiratory flow during FVC (forced expiratory flow (FEF)25, FEF50, FEF75) were also measured. Data were compared using a repeated measures two-way analysis of variance, with a 0.05 α level.

Results Rectal temperature (Tre) peaked after 30 min in the EXERC (mean (SD) 38.0 (0.3)°C) and IMM40 (38.2 (0.2)°C) conditions and both were higher (p<0.05) than at the corresponding time in the thermoneutral condition (37.2 (0.2)°C). At this time, FEV1 was 4.5 (0.6), 4.6 (0.3) and 4.4 (0.6) L, respectively. Tre, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC were greater in the IMM40 and EXERC conditions compared with the IMM35 condition. Interaction effects were evident for FEF50 and FEF75 (p<0.05), being higher in IMM40 and EXERC conditions.

Conclusion Increasing deep body temperature, independently, contributes to the increased airflow ascribed to bronchodilatation when exercising.

  • Ventilation
  • bronchodilatation
  • exercise
  • body temperature
  • heat

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2016-000210

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    Footnotes

    • Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge the participants who consented to be part of the study, Dr Mitch Lomax and other staff of the Extreme Environments Laboratory and Physiotherapy Department and HMS Nelson for their help and support during the project. In memoriam: Dr Mark ‘Buster’ Harries (Respiratory Consultant, Northwick Park Hospital)

    • Contributors MJT contributed to the conception, protocol production, data analysis and manuscript production.

      PK and MJB contributed to the protocol production, data collection and analysis, and manuscript production.

      DRdS contributed to the protocol production, data analysis and manuscript production.

    • Funding This project was funded by the University of Portsmouth.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Ethics approval University of Portsmouth Science Faculty Research Ethics Committee.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.