Acute changes in glucose induced by continuous or intermittent exercise in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Luis Paulo Gomes Mascarenhas; Valderi Abreu de Lima; Denise Barth Rebesco; Suzana Nesi França; Gabriel Ribeiro Cordeiro; Jorge Mota; Neiva Leite

doi:10.20945/2359-3997000000444

Acute changes in glucose induced by continuous or intermittent exercise in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Arch Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Apr 28;66(2):176-181. doi: 10.20945/2359-3997000000444. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Authors

Luis Paulo Gomes Mascarenhas¹, Valderi Abreu de Lima², Denise Barth Rebesco¹, Suzana Nesi França³, Gabriel Ribeiro Cordeiro¹, Jorge Mota⁴, Neiva Leite⁵

Affiliations

¹ Programa de Pós-graduação Interdisciplinar em Desenvolvimento Comunitário, Departamento de Educação Física, Universidade Estadual do Centro Oeste (UNICENTRO), Irati, PR, Brasil.
² Departamento de Educação Física, Núcleo de Qualidade de Vida, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brasil, valderiabreulima@hotmail.com.
³ Unidade de Endocrinologia Pediátrica, Departamento de Pediatria, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brasil.
⁴ Centro de Investigação em Actividade Física, Saúde e Lazer (CIAFEL), Faculdade de Desporto, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
⁵ Departamento de Educação Física, Núcleo de Qualidade de Vida, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brasil.

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the rate of change during exercise and during recovery in moderate-continuous exercise (MCE) and high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Methods: Participants performed 2 sessions of exercise: thirty minutes of continuous activity on a cycle ergometer (60% of VO_2max) and thirty minutes (60% VO_2max) interspersed with five bouts of maximum intensity lasting ten seconds every five minutes. Capillary blood glucose was measured before and after each test. The glucose rate of change in exercise (RoC_E) was calculated (final blood glucose - onset blood glucose/exercise time), and the glucose rate of change in recovery (RoC_R) (blood glucose 30 minutes after exercise - end of exercise blood glucose/recovery time).

Results: The study included thirty-one participants (aged 13 ± 1.88 years). A lower blood glucose reduction was observed in the HIIE group, as well as better recovery values before, after, and thirty minutes after the test, respectively (333.14 ± 69.53, 226.19 ± 68.05 and 201.77 ± 66.84 versus 211.36 ± 91.03, 155.98 ± 82,68 and 165.76 ± 72.94). Covariance analyses showed a significant difference in glycemic variation between continuous and intermittent protocols immediately after exercise (-2.90 versus -2.08) and during the recovery period (-0.677 versus -0.389).

Conclusion: HIIE led to a lower glucose reduction rate per minute during exercise and better recovery in the first 30 minutes after exercise compared to MCE in children and adolescents with T1D.

Keywords: Type 1 diabetes; high-intensity exercise; hypoglycemia; moderate-continuous exercise.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Blood Glucose
Child
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1* / therapy
Exercise
Glucose
High-Intensity Interval Training* / methods
Humans

Substances

Blood Glucose
Glucose

Grants and funding

this research was funded by a grant from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (grant number: 487557/2013-1), and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes) provided scholarships. The authors report no involvement in the research by the sponsor that could have influenced the outcome of this work.