Acute effects of hyperglycaemia with and without exercise on endothelial function in healthy young men

Post-prandial hyperglycaemia impairs endothelial function as evaluated by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD). Exercise is an intervention to protect against cardiovascular disease and to improve FMD. In this study, we examined whether the effect of acute hyperglycaemia on endothelial function in healthy young men is restored by aerobic exercise. Using a counterbalanced, randomized crossover design, we measured the brachial artery FMD at baseline and 1, 2, 3 and 4 h after 75 g glucose ingestion in 11 healthy young men, with and without a single bout of aerobic exercise. Brachial artery FMD declined from 11.4 ± 3.8% at baseline to 7.3 ± 3.4% 1 h after oral glucose ingestion, and returned to baseline after 4 h. When the oral glucose ingestion was followed immediately by 45 min of treadmill exercise at an intensity of 60% maximal oxygen uptake, FMD demonstrated no significant decrease (11.8 ± 2.5, 11.3 ± 2.8, 12.2 ± 2.7, 13.5 ± 3.5, and 12.6 ± 2.4% at baseline and 4 h after ingestion, respectively). The results indicate that the aerobic exercise restores the impaired FMD induced by oral glucose ingestion.