Improvements in fitness are not obligatory for exercise training-induced improvements in CV risk factors.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether changes in physical fitness relate to changes in cardiovascular risk factors following standardized, center-based and supervised exercise training programs in subjects with increased cardiovascular risk. We pooled data from exercise training studies of subjects with increased cardiovascular risk (n = 166) who underwent 8-52 weeks endurance training. We determined fitness (i.

Vascular Function and Structure in Veteran Athletes after Myocardial Infarction.

Purpose: Although athletes demonstrate lower cardiovascular risk and superior vascular function compared with sedentary peers, they are not exempted from cardiac events (i.e., myocardial infarction [MI]).

Facioscapulohumeral dystrophy in children: design of a prospective, observational study on natural history, predictors and clinical impact (iFocus FSHD).

Background: Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD; OMIM 158900 & 158901) is a progressive skeletal muscle dystrophy, characterized by an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. One of the major unsolved questions in FSHD is the marked clinical heterogeneity, ranging from asymptomatic individuals to severely affected patients with an early onset. An estimated 10% of FSHD patients have an early onset (onset before 10 years of age) and are traditionally classified as infantile FSHD.

Glycemic control during consecutive days with prolonged walking exercise in individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Aims: Despite its general benefits for health, exercise complicates the maintenance of stable blood glucose concentrations in individuals with type 1 diabetes. The aim of the current study was to examine changes in food intake, insulin administration, and 24-h glycemic control in response to consecutive days with prolonged walking exercise (∼8h daily) in individuals with type 1 diabetes.

Methods: Ten individuals with type 1 diabetes participating in the worlds' largest walking event were recruited for this observational study.

Impact of 2-Weeks Continuous Increase in Retrograde Shear Stress on Brachial Artery Vasomotor Function in Young and Older Men.

Background: Although acute elevation in retrograde shear rate (SR) impairs endothelial function, no previous study has explored the effect of prolonged elevation of retrograde SR on conduit artery vascular function. We examined the effect of 2-weeks elevation of retrograde SR on brachial artery endothelial function in young and in older men.

Methods And Results: Thirteen healthy young (23±2 years) and 13 older men (61±5 years) were instructed to continuously wear a compression sleeve around the right forearm to chronically (2 weeks) elevate brachial artery retrograde SR in 1 arm.

Impact of retrograde shear rate on brachial and superficial femoral artery flow-mediated dilation in older subjects.

Unlabelled: An inverse, dose-dependent relationship between retrograde shear rate and brachial artery endothelial function exists in young subjects. This relationship has not been investigated in older adults, who have been related to lower endothelial function, higher resting retrograde shear rate and higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Aim: To investigate the impact of a step-wise increase in retrograde shear stress on flow-mediated dilation in older males in the upper and lower limbs.

Elevation in blood flow and shear rate prevents hyperglycemia-induced endothelial dysfunction in healthy subjects and those with type 2 diabetes.

Hyperglycemia, commonly present after a meal, causes transient impairment in endothelial function. We examined whether increases in blood flow (BF) protect against the hyperglycemia-mediated decrease in endothelial function in healthy subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Ten healthy subjects and 10 age- and sex-matched patients with T2DM underwent simultaneous bilateral assessment of brachial artery endothelial function by means of flow-mediated dilation (FMD) using high-resolution echo-Doppler.

Interval exercise, but not endurance exercise, prevents endothelial ischemia-reperfusion injury in healthy subjects.

Endothelial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury importantly contributes to the poor prognosis during ischemic (myocardial) events. Preconditioning, i.e.

Combined aerobic and resistance exercise training decreases peripheral but not central artery wall thickness in subjects with type 2 diabetes.

Objective: Little is known about the impact of exercise training on conduit artery wall thickness in type 2 diabetes. We examined the local and systemic impact of exercise training on superficial femoral (SFA), brachial (BA), and carotid artery (CA) wall thickness in type 2 diabetes patients and controls.

Methods: Twenty patients with type 2 diabetes and 10 age- and sex-matched controls performed an 8-week training study involving lower limb-based combined aerobic and resistance exercise training.

Time-course of vascular adaptations during 8 weeks of exercise training in subjects with type 2 diabetes and middle-aged controls.

Purpose: Exercise training in healthy volunteers rapidly improves vascular function, preceding structural remodelling. No study examined the time-course of such adaptations in subjects with a priori endothelial dysfunction.

Methods: We examined brachial artery endothelial and smooth muscle function using flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) administration in 13 type 2 diabetes patients (59 ± 6 years) and 10 healthy subjects (58 ± 7 years) before, during (2-weekly) and after an 8-week training programme.

Impact of hypoxic versus normoxic training on physical fitness and vasculature in diabetes.

Background: Exercise training improves physical fitness, insulin resistance, and endothelial function in type 2 diabetes. Hypoxia may further optimize these beneficial effects. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of hypoxic versus normoxic exercise training on physical fitness, endothelial function, and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes.

Randomized controlled trial using bosentan to enhance the impact of exercise training in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

In type 2 diabetes patients, endothelin (ET) receptor blockade may enhance blood flow responses to exercise training. The combination of exercise training and ET receptor blockade may represent a more potent stimulus than training alone to improve vascular function, physical fitness and glucose homeostasis. We assessed the effect of an 8 week exercise training programme combined with either ET blockade or placebo on vasculature, fitness and glucose homeostasis in people with type 2 diabetes.

Impact of endothelin blockade on acute exercise-induced changes in blood flow and endothelial function in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Positive vascular effects of exercise training are mediated by acute increases in blood flow. Type 2 diabetes patients show attenuated exercise-induced increases in blood flow, possibly mediated by the endothelin pathway, preventing an optimal stimulus for vascular adaptation. We examined the impact of endothelin receptor blockade (bosentan) on exercise-induced blood flow in the brachial artery and on pre- and postexercise endothelial function in type 2 diabetes patients (n = 9, 60 ± 7 years old) and control subjects (n = 10, 60 ± 5 years old).

Impact of metformin on endothelial ischemia-reperfusion injury in humans in vivo: a prospective randomized open, blinded-endpoint study.

Introduction: Large prospective studies in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have demonstrated that metformin treatment improves cardiovascular prognosis, independent of glycemic control. Administration of metformin potently limits infarct size in murine models of myocardial infarction. This study examined, for the first time in humans, whether metformin limits ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in vivo using a well-validated forearm model of endothelial IR-injury.

Acute impact of retrograde shear rate on brachial and superficial femoral artery flow-mediated dilation in humans.

Retrograde shear rate (SR) in the brachial artery (BA) is associated with endothelial dysfunction; a precursor to atherosclerosis. The BA does not typically manifest clinical atherosclerosis, whereas the superficial femoral artery (SFA) is more prone to developing plaque. Examine whether the impact of incremental levels of retrograde SR differs between atherosclerosis-prone (i.

Effect of black tea consumption on brachial artery flow-mediated dilation and ischaemia-reperfusion in humans.

Tea consumption is associated with reduced cardiovascular risk. Previous studies found that tea flavonoids work through direct effects on the vasculature, leading to dose-dependent improvements in endothelial function. Cardioprotective effects of regular tea consumption may relate to the prevention of endothelial ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) injury.

Breath acetone to monitor life style interventions in field conditions: an exploratory study.

Objective: To assess whether breath acetone concentration can be used to monitor the effects of a prolonged physical activity on whole body lipolysis and hepatic ketogenesis in field conditions.

Methods: Twenty-three non-diabetic, 11 type 1 diabetic, and 17 type 2 diabetic subjects provided breath and blood samples for this study. Samples were collected during the International Four Days Marches, in the Netherlands.

Life-long physical activity restores metabolic and cardiovascular function in type 2 diabetes.

Purpose: Short-to-moderate duration exercise training improves fitness and lowers cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, the impact of long-term compliance to an active lifestyle of T2DM patients on cardiovascular risk factors has never been studied but could provide information on the maximal achievable health effect of physical activity in T2DM. This study examined the impact of a life-long active lifestyle by comparing physical fitness, cardiovascular risk and vascular function between long-term physically active T2DM patients versus sedentary T2DM patients and controls.

Aging attenuates the protective effect of ischemic preconditioning against endothelial ischemia-reperfusion injury in humans.

Reperfusion is mandatory after ischemia but also triggers ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) can limit endothelial I/R injury. Nonetheless, translation of IPC to the clinical arena is often disappointing.