High Intensity Interval Training and Insulin Sensitivity in Type 2 Diabetes

A recognized driver for cardiovascular complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is impaired plasma glucose homeostasis as consequence of skeletal muscle insulin resistance. Insulin-mediated plasma glucose disposal in skeletal muscle comprises oxidative glucose disposal (cellular glucose uptake for oxidation) and non-oxidative glucose disposal (NOGD; cellular glucose uptake for storage as glycogen), both processes being impaired in T2DM patients. Excessive intrahepatic fat accumulation (particularly monounsaturated (MUFA) and saturated (SFA)) is commonly observed in T2DM patients and tightly associates with plasma glucose dysregulation. It has been hypothesized that skeletal muscle insulin resistance redistributes circulating glucose away from muscle which together with hyperinsulinemia promotes intrahepatic lipid accretion via de novo lipogenesis (DNL). As saturated lipids is the final product of DNL, improving skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity, next to enhance plasma glucose homeostasis, might lower intrahepatic lipid content particularly intrahepatic saturated lipids. Regular exercise is a cornerstone in the treatment of T2DM and to improve skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity. Interestingly, a conventional exercise program (aerobic-type combined with strength-type exercise) restores insulin-stimulated oxidative glucose disposal in T2DM patients to levels observed in age-matched normoglycemic subjects. Non-oxidative glucose disposal (NOGD), however, does not improve upon such conventional exercise programs. In this regard, for full restoration of compromised glucose disposal, it is pivotal to come up with effective training methods to target NOGD. High intensity interval training (HIIT) has the potential to expands the glycogen synthesis capacity in athletes by repetitive cycles of glycogen depletion/repletion, hence holds promise to improve NOGD in T2DM patients. Of note, HIIT also lowers the intrahepatic fat content in pre-diabetes individuals. Neverth