Maximal Exercise Blood Pressure and Glycemic Responses: Association with Resting Parameters in Healthy Young Adults.

Abstract

Hypertension and hyperglycemia are known components of the metabolic syndrome. Massive adrenergic stimulation during high-intensity exercise has been associated to high blood pressure (BP) and blood glucose concentration. The predictive value of exercise-induced hypertension is an area of active research. An exaggerated and persistent hyperglycemia induced by intense exercise has been described in type-1 diabetics. For healthy subjects is not clear if BP and glycemic responses during maximal exercise are correlated with resting BP and glycemic values within the span of normal range. PURPOSE: To find the association between resting and maximal exercise BP and glycemic responses in healthy young adults. METHODS: An exploratory analysis was conducted on 145 young adults (63 female) aged 18-25 deemed healthy by medical and anthropometric evaluation (body mass index 18.4 - 24.9) as well as laboratory tests, including a complete metabolic profile. All subject had normal resting BP, glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and fasting glucose concentration (FG) values. On a separate day subjects performed a maximal ramp cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) on a cycle ergometer; capillary blood glucose concentration (cBG) and BP were measured every 2.5 minutes. Pearson product-moment correlations between resting and exercise parameters were assessed with a significance level <0.05. Separate analysis were made for males and females. RESULTS: The analysis for the female group is presented: at maximal workload, cBG was correlated with HbA1c (r=0.29, p= 0.016) while diastolic BP was correlated with resting diastolic BP (r=0.26, p=0.034). Overall, maximal cBG was correlated with HbA1C (r= 0.27, p= 0.025) and FG (r=0.27, p=0.026) and maximal systolic BP was correlated with resting systolic BP (r=0.27, p=0.0009). CONCLUSIONS: For healthy young females BP and glycemic parameters at rest were positively associated with cBG and BP responses at or near maximal workloads during CPET. In otherwise healthy adults with resting BP and BG values in the upper limit of normal, acute intense exercise could play a role unmasking early subclinical cBG and BP changes in the metabolic syndrome continuum. The predictive and prognostic role of these findings remains to be determined. Supported by COLCIENCIAS Grant number 120356934972, 713-2013.