Abstract
There is some evidence that transient endothelial dysfunction induced by acute hyperglycemia may be attenuated by a single bout of aerobic exercise. However, the impact of aerobic exercise training on acute hyperglycemia-induced endothelial dysfunction has not been explored. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of aerobic exercise training on the endothelial function response to acute hyperglycemia. Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was assessed in 24 healthy males (21 ± 1 years) pre-, 60 and 90 min post ingestion of 75 g of glucose. Participants completed a four-week control (CON; n = 13) or exercise training (EX; n = 11) intervention. The EX group completed four weeks of cycling exercise (30 min, 4×/week at 65% work rate peak). Cardiorespiratory fitness (\(\mathop {\text{V}}\limits^{.}\)O2peak) increased and resting HR decreased in EX, but not CON post-intervention (p < 0.001). Glucose and insulin increased (p < 0.001) following glucose ingestion, with no significant difference pre- and post-intervention. In contrast to previous research, FMD was unaffected by glucose-ingestion, pre- and post-intervention in both groups. In conclusion, acute hyperglycemia did not impair endothelial function, before or after exercise training. Relatively high baseline fitness (\(\mathop {\text{V}}\limits^{.}\)O2peak ~ 46 mL/kg/min) and young age may have contributed to the lack of impairment observed. Further research is needed to examine the impact of exercise training on hyperglycemia-induced impairments in endothelial function in sedentary males and females.
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Data availability
The data generated and analyzed is available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.
Abbreviations
- AbsFMD:
-
Absolute flow mediated dilation
- BMI:
-
Body mass index
- CON:
-
Control group
- EX:
-
Exercise group
- FMD:
-
Flow mediated dilation
- HbA1c:
-
Hemoglobin A1c
- HDL:
-
High-density lipoprotein
- HIIT:
-
High intensity interval training
- HOMA-IR:
-
Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance
- HR:
-
Heart rate
- LDL:
-
Low-density lipoprotein
- MAP:
-
Mean arterial pressure
- NO:
-
Nitric oxide
- OGTT:
-
Oral glucose tolerance test
- ROS:
-
Reactive oxygen species
- SR:
-
Shear rate
- SR30sAUC:
-
Shear rate 30 s area under the curve
- \(\mathop {\text{V}}\limits^{.}\)O2max:
-
Maximal oxygen consumption
- \(\mathop {\text{V}}\limits^{.}\)O2peak:
-
Peak oxygen consumption
- WRpeak:
-
Work rate peak
- %FMD:
-
Percent flow mediated dilation
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the subjects for their time, patience and enthusiasm throughout this study. The authors would also like to thank Taylor Stimpson for her support in data collection.
Funding
This research was funded by a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) grant no: 2019-04894, Discovery Grant to KE Pyke and an NSERC Discovery Grant to BJ Gurd. JS Williams was supported by funding through an NSERC PGS-M. JTB was supported by an NSERC Vanier CGS. TJK was supported by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.
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JSW and KEP developed the design for the research study. JSW performed hyperglycemia data collection, with assistance from TJK, JTB recruited participants and performed data collection and analysis for \(\mathop {\text{V}}\limits^{.}\)O2 peak testing, under BJG’s supervision. JSW analyzed data, interpreted results, and drafted the manuscript, with assistance from KEP. All authors edited and revised the manuscript and approved the final version.
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Williams, J.S., Bonafiglia, J.T., King, T.J. et al. No acute hyperglycemia induced impairment in brachial artery flow-mediated dilation before or after aerobic exercise training in young recreationally active males. Eur J Appl Physiol 123, 2733–2746 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-023-05209-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-023-05209-0