Acute effects of exercise on macro- and microvasculature in individuals with type 1 diabetes - a secondary outcome analysis

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024 Aug 29:15:1406930. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1406930. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Background: Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease associated with insulin-producing beta cell destruction, declining insulin secretion, and elevated blood glucose. Physical activity improves glycaemic control and cardiovascular health. This study explores acute effects of maximal exhaustion induced by a cardiopulmonary exercise on macro- and microvascular parameters in type 1 diabetes.

Methodology: Twenty-five participants with type 1 diabetes (14 males, 11 females), aged 41.4 ± 11.87 years, BMI 23.7 ± 3.08, completed a repeated-measure study. Measurements pre-, post-, 30- and 60-minutes post-exhaustion involved a maximal incremental cardio-pulmonary exercise test. Macro- and microvascular parameters were assessed using VICORDER® and retinal blood vessel image analysis. Repeated measures ANOVA in SPSS (Version 27.0) analysed data.

Results: Post-exercise, heart rate increased (p<.001), and diastolic blood pressure decreased (p=.023). Diabetes duration correlated with pulse wave velocity (r=0.418, p=.047), diastolic blood pressure (r=0.470, p=.023), and central retinal arteriolar equivalent (r=0.492, p=.023).

Conclusion: In type 1 diabetes, cardiopulmonary exercise-induced exhaustion elevates heart rate and reduces diastolic blood pressure. Future research should explore extended, rigorous physical activity protocols for greater cardiovascular risk reduction.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus; exercise; haemodynamics; microcirculation; type 1; vascular stiffness.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Blood Glucose / metabolism
  • Blood Pressure / physiology
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1* / physiopathology
  • Exercise Test
  • Exercise* / physiology
  • Female
  • Heart Rate / physiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Microvessels* / physiopathology
  • Middle Aged

Substances

  • Blood Glucose

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.