Impact of type 2 diabetes on cardiorespiratory function and exercise performance

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of well-controlled uncomplicated type 2 diabetes (T2D) on exercise performance. Six obese sedentary men with T2D and 7 control participants without diabetes matched for age, sex and body mass index were recruited. Anthropometric characteristics, blood samples, resting cardiac and pulmonary functions and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and ventilatory threshold were measured on a first visit. On the four subsequent visits, participants performed step transitions (6 min) of moderate-intensity exercise on an upright cycle ergometer from unloaded pedaling to 80 % of ventilatory threshold. VO2 ({tau}VO2) and HR ({tau}HR) kinetics were characterized with a mono-exponential model. VO2max (27.8{+/-}4.0 vs. 27.5{+/-}5.3 ml kg-1 min-1; p=0.95), {tau}VO2 (43{+/-}6 vs. 43{+/-}10 s; p=0.73) and {tau}HR (42{+/-}17 vs. 43{+/-}13 s; p=0.94) were similar between diabetics and controls respectively. The remaining variables were also similar between groups. These results suggest that well-controlled T2D is not associated with a reduction in VO2max or slower {tau}VO2 and {tau}HR.