Gastrointestinal permeability during exercise: effects of aspirin and energy-containing beverages

The purpose of this study was to determine whether aspirin (A) ingestion co mbined with prolonged exercise increases gastrointestinal permeability and whether consumption of a carbohydrate-containing (CHO) or a CHO + glutamine -containing (CHO+G) beverage would reduce this effect. Seventeen subjects c ompleted six experiments. They ingested A (1,300 mg) or placebo (P) pills t he evening before and before running 60 min at 70% maximal oxygen uptake. A lso, before running they ingested a solution containing 5 g lactulose (L), 5 g sucrose (S), and 2 g rhamnose (R). During each trial, either a 6% CHO b everage, a 6% CHO+G (0.6%; 41 mM) beverage, or a water placebo (WP) was con sumed. For 4 h after a run, all urine was collected to measure urinary excr etion of L, R, and S. S excretion (percentage of dose ingested; measure of gastroduodenal permeability) was significantly greater (P < 0.05) during th e A trial while the subjects drank the WP compared with all other trials. A dministration of A also significantly increased L/R (measure of intestinal permeability) for the CHO and WP trials compared with all P trials. Ingesti on the CHO or CHO+G beverages significantly reduced S excretion and L excre tion when A was administered, but it did not reduce L/R. These results indi cate that gastroduodenal and intestinal permeability increase after A inges tion during prolonged running and that ingestion of a CHO beverage attenuat es the gastroduodenal effect but not the intestinal effect. Furthermore, ad dition of G to the CHO beverage provided no additional benefit in reducing gastroduodenal or intestinal permeability.