ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana - Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2021 January-February;180(1-2):27-34

DOI: 10.23736/S0393-3660.19.04137-8

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Exercise improves glucose and insulin response to oral glucose tolerance test in people with spinal cord injury

Yuna SHIN ¹ ✉, Jae W. LEE ², Sang M. HONG ³, Jun H. LEE ⁴

¹ Department of Prescription and Rehabilitation of Exercise College of Physical Exercise, Dankook University, Cheonan-si, South Korea; ² Department of Adapted Physical Education, College of Physical Science, Yongin University, Youngin-si, South Korea; ³ Department of Physical Education, College of Education, Dongguk University, Seoul, South Korea; ⁴ Department of Physical Education, Centre for Sport Medicine, Kyung-Hee University, Seoul, South Korea

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the glucose and insulin levels at rest and after exercise and the association of glucose metabolism, cardiorespiratory fitness, and mitochondrial DNA amount in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) compared to those in able-bodied (AB) controls.
METHODS: Twelve men with SCI (age range, 20-40 years) and ten age-matched AB male controls participated in this study. Individuals with SCI and AB controls underwent an incremental exercise test to exhaustion on an arm crank ergometer. Glucose and insulin responses to 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were measured at rest and after exercise.
RESULTS: Glucose and insulin responses to OGTT had a significant difference in time points both at rest and after exercise. However, there were no statistically significant differences in group and the interaction group and time both at rest and after exercise even though the AB group showed higher upper lean body mass (LBM), lower LBM, and total LBM than the SCI group.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that regular exercise in patients with SCI could ameliorate the negative effect of physical inactivity and loss of lower muscle mass on insulin-mediated glucose metabolism at rest and during exercise.

KEY WORDS: Spinal cord injuries; Glucose metabolism disorders; Glucose tolerance test; Exercise