Objective: To test the possible antipanic effects of acute exercise in healthy volunteers exposed to an inhalation of 35% CO2 challenge.
Method: Twenty healthy subjects in a randomized separate group design, performed exercise in a bicycle ergometer reaching >6 mm of blood lactate and a control condition of minimal activity in the same fashion with no lactate elevation. Immediately afterwards an inhalation of a vital capacity using a mixture of 35% CO2/65% O2 through a mask was given on both conditions.
Results: Subjects under the exercise condition reported less panic symptoms than controls after a CO2 challenge on the diagnostic statistical manual-IV (DSM-IV) Panic Symptom List but no difference on the Visual Analogue Anxiety Scale.
Conclusion: Subjects under the exertion condition had lactate levels comparable with those of lactate infusions but an inhibitory rather than accumulative effect was seen when combined with a CO2 challenge.