Blood glucose responses are associated with prolonged sitting-induced changes in arterial stiffness: a randomized crossover trial.

Objective: To determine whether the vascular dysfunction response to prolonged sitting combined with hyperglycemia can be mitigated with simple and feasible sitting interruption exercises.

Methods: Twenty healthy young adults [50% women, 21 (2) years, BMI of 21.5 (1.6) kg/m 2 ; (SD)] were enrolled in this study. This study included two 3-h prolonged sitting conditions: uninterrupted sitting (CON) and interruptions with 1-min light half-squat exercises every 20 min (EX). In both conditions, participants ingested 75-g glucose before sitting. The primary outcome was brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV).

Results: Linear mixed-effects model analysis revealed a significant interaction effect for baPWV, with a 25% (4.7 m/s) increase for CON and a 1.3% (0.22 m/s) increase for EX. There was also an interaction effect for glucose, with a 60% (57 mg/dl) for CON and a 41% (39 mg/dl) increase for EX. Repeated measures correlation revealed a negligible association between glucose and baPWV for CON ( r = -0.04) and a small association for EX ( r = 0.32).

Conclusion: Vascular dysfunction occurred for the control but not the exercise condition, suggesting interrupting prolonged sitting with regular, short bouts of exercise may be an effective strategy to protect vascular health.