Reproducibility and levels of blood lactate transition thresholds in persons with metabolic syndrome.

Background: The optimal exercise load/intensity for exercise programs for individuals with metabolic syndrome has not been investigated. One method of determining optimal exercise load is to measure the blood lactate transition threshold (BLTT), referred to as the anaerobic threshold (AT). This study investigated the reproducibility of BLTT testing and the consequent determination of AT via the Mader method and a modified form of the Automatic Data Analysis for Progressive Tests (ADAPT) method in patients with metabolic syndrome.

Methods: Fifteen, male patients diagnosed with metabolic syndrome and 15 healthy, male subjects each performed BLTT measurements on a treadmill at the same daily times on three different days. Peak oxygen consumption was also determined during testing.

Results: There was no significant difference in treadmill velocity at AT determined by the Mader method or the modified ADAPT method within both groups (P>0.05). Both methods yielded good coefficients of variation. When combining both groups, the typical error also demonstrated good reproducibility. The mean treadmill velocity at AT was higher in the healthy compared to the metabolic syndrome group using both the Mader and the ADAPT method. Regression analysis and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) demonstrated that this difference was largely due to a higher oxygen consumption (VO2) peak in the healthy group. The study also found an association between VO2 peak and waist circumference among the metabolic syndrome group.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that BLTT tests are reproducible in persons with metabolic syndrome. The modified ADAPT method may be the preferred method of determining treadmill velocity at AT because fewer factors are known to influence its determination.