PHYSICAL EXERCISE INCREASES PLASMA-CONCENTRATIONS OF NICOTINE DURING TREATMENT WITH A NICOTINE PATCH

The effect of physical exercise on plasma nicotine concentrations was studied in eight healthy subjects treated with a nicotine patch releas ing 14 mg 24 h(-1). After 11 h of patch application, plasma nicotine c oncentrations were measured before and after 20 min of moderate bicycl e exercise, or 20 min of rest. Mean plasma nicotine concentration incr eased from 9.8 to 11.0 ng ml(-1) (P = 0.015) during physical exercise, and fell non-significantly from 10.5 to 10.2 ng ml(-1) during rest. T he increase in plasma nicotine concentration during exercise is simila r to that observed for transdermal nitroglycerin, and may be related t o an exercise-induced increase in blood flow in the patch area.