Aerobic Exercise Training And Ventilation-cardiac Output Ratio In Interstitial Lung Disease And Pulmonary Hypertension

Abstract

Aerobic exercise training has been shown to elicit physiological changes in cardiorespiratory capacity in people with advanced lung disease such as pulmonary hypertension (PH) and interstitial lung disease (ILD), despite impaired pulmonary ventilation (VE) and perfusion. PURPOSE: To examine whether aerobic exercise training alters the VE/Qt ratio in subjects with PH or ILD. METHODS: Twelve people with ILD (5 men and 8 women; age 56.83 ± 8.26 years; BMI 28.83± 5.01) and 17 females with PH (age 55± 8.88 years; BMI 29.97± 7.89 kg/m2) participated in the study. All subjects were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health Exercise Therapy for Advanced Lung Disease Trial [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00678821]. All subjects underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) with bioelectrical impedance measure of cardiac output (Qt) before and after 10 weeks of supervised vigorous treadmill walking, 30-45 minutes per session, 3 times per week (24-30 sessions). RESULTS: VE, Qt, and VE/Qt increased with CPET work stage before and after training. There was a significant increase in peak work rate after training in both groups (PH before 106±48.36 watts, after 133±64.12 watts p=0.002; ILD before 135±57.04 watts, after 180±77.35 watts p=0.001). There were no significant differences in peak VE, peak Qt, and peak VE/Qt before and after training in either group. Similarly, significant differences were not observed at rest or at the anaerobic threshold.CONCLUSION: Aerobic exercise training does not appear to have an effect on the ventilation-cardiac output ratio in these subjects with PH or ILD.