Effects of high intensity interval versus moderate continuous training on markers of ventilatory and cardiac efficiency in coronary heart disease patients.

Gustavo G Cardozo,Paulo T V Farinatti,Ricardo B Oliveira

doi:10.1155/2015/192479

Abstract

Background. We tested the hypothesis that high intensity interval training (HIIT) would be more effective than moderate intensity continuous training (MIT) to improve newly emerged markers of cardiorespiratory fitness in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients, as the relationship between ventilation and carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2 slope), oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES), and oxygen pulse (O2P). Methods. Seventy-one patients with optimized treatment were randomly assigned into HIIT (n = 23, age = 56 ± 12 years), MIT (n = 24, age = 62 ± 12 years), or nonexercise control group (CG) (n = 24, age = 64 ± 12 years). MIT performed 30 min of continuous aerobic exercise at 70–75% of maximal heart rate (HRmax), and HIIT performed 30 min sessions split in 2 min alternate bouts at 60%/90% HRmax (3 times/week for 16 weeks). Results. No differences among groups (before versus after) were found for VE/VCO2 slope or OUES (P > 0.05). After training the O2P slope increased in HIIT (22%, P < 0.05) but not in MIT (2%, P > 0.05), while decreased in CG (−20%, P < 0.05) becoming lower versus HIIT (P = 0.03). Conclusion. HIIT was more effective than MIT for improving O2P slope in CHD patients, while VE/VCO2 slope and OUES were similarly improved by aerobic training regimens versus controls.

Highlights

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) has become increasingly applied in clinical practice because of its ability to noninvasively identify unexplained exercise intolerance, supporting decisions with regard to therapeutic interventions and helping prognosis estimate [1]
The VE/VCO2 slope and oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES) have been shown to have complementary or even better survival prognostic value than peak VO2 in cardiac patients [2], while a flattening in O2P has been considered as a marker of ischemia [3]
All patients signed an informed consent before enrolling in the study and the experimental protocol was approved by Institutional Ethics Committee

Summary

Introduction

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) has become increasingly applied in clinical practice because of its ability to noninvasively identify unexplained exercise intolerance, supporting decisions with regard to therapeutic interventions and helping prognosis estimate [1]. Training has generally been shown to improve indices of ventilatory efficiency in heart failure patients, the results from these studies are somewhat mixed when CHD patients are considered [9, 10]. We tested the hypothesis that high intensity interval training (HIIT) would be more effective than moderate intensity continuous training (MIT) to improve newly emerged markers of cardiorespiratory fitness in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients, as the relationship between ventilation and carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2 slope), oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES), and oxygen pulse (O2P). HIIT was more effective than MIT for improving O2P slope in CHD patients, while VE/VCO2 slope and OUES were improved by aerobic training regimens versus controls

Methods

Results

Conclusion