Effects of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Fasting Blood Glucose

Abstract

Muscle contraction during physical activity improves glucose metabolism and glycemic control by facilitating muscle glucose uptake and utilization. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is an involuntary alternative mode of muscle contraction and is widely applicable and suitable for individuals with sedentary lifestyle including people with physical functional limitations and other mobility impairments. Use of NMES has the potential to improve metabolic health analogous to voluntary exercise. Purpose: To determine the acute effect of 30 mins of NMES on energy metabolism and fasting blood glucose level. Methods: Fifteen participants without diabetes participated in the study (Males: 6; Females: 9; Age: 33.80 ± 12.99 years; BMI: 32.59 ± 9.17 kg/m2). Each participant underwent 30 mins of cyclical NMES on the quadricep muscles of both legs while lying supine on a bed. NMES was applied at a frequency of 50Hz with a pulse width of 300μs up to maximum tolerable intensity. Blood glucose and lactate levels were determined at baseline and at 5 mins intervals during the stimulation. Energy expenditure and substrate utilization were measured at baseline and monitored continuously during the NMES via indirect calorimetry. The experimental procedure was performed in a fasting condition and was directly preceded by a day of dietary control. Results: A decreasing blood glucose effect of NMES was observed between baseline glucose level (95.94 ± 7.81 mg/dL) and after 25 mins (92.85 ± 8.82 mg/dL) and 30 mins (91.79 ± 9.00 mg/dL) of NMES (p<0.05). Average energy expenditure rate during the 30min of NMES (19.37 ± 4.49 Kcal/kg/day) was relatively higher than that of the resting baseline rate (19.24 ± 3.57 Kcal/kg/day) (p<0.05). Blood lactate level and respiratory exchange ratio (substrate utilization) however, remained unaffected throughout the experimental procedure. Conclusion: Neuromuscular electrical stimulation is effective in decreasing blood glucose level and hence could serve as a beneficial intervention for blood glucose management. Supported by NIH Grant R01 DK132430 This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.