EFFECT OF 30 MIN CYCLE ERGOMETRY ON ANKYLOSING-SPONDYLITIS

The effects of 30 min cycle ergometry at similar to 100 W (mean 98.9 W ; range 34-151 W) in 11 male patients who had no hip involvement a wer e studied. In most patients, exercise produced immediate increases in spinal flexibility and bilateral cervical tilt, and a reduction in pai n. However, these improvements steadily waned and all had disappeared by 3-5 h. Exercise induced marked changes in the numbers of circulatin g leucocytes and platelets, and in the distribution of lymphocyte subs ets, similar to those previously reported to occur in individuals with out the disease. In a majority of patients, there were positive associ ations (Kendall's tau test) between Schober's index and the platelet c ount, and negative associations between Schober's index and the percen tage of CD4-positive cells over a 5 h period on the exercise day, wher eas there were negative associations between the pain score and the le ucocyte and neutrophil counts over a comparable period on a control da y without exercise. We conclude that exercising those regions of the b ody unaffected by disease can elicit short-term beneficial effects by a systemically mediated mechanism(s).