Physical exercise and gastric acid secretion

The effects of physical exercise on the basal acid secretion of the stomach has been investigated in 10 healthy individuals and 16 hypersecretors with duodenal ulcer. The gastric basal secretion was collected during 3 hours; during the first hour the patient was at rest, during the second he realized a training exercise, according to Roskamm's formula, and in the third was at rest. While normal subjects showed a significative reduction of the acid secretion during the period of exercise, in the hypersecretory patients with ulcer the acid secretion increased significantly during exercise, from 4.25 +/- 1.52 mEq/h to 7.79 +/- 3.49 mEq/h; these figures reverted to normal values (5.45 +/- 2.21) during the recovery period. We comment the potential mechanisms of these differences in both groups of patients.