Effects of exercise intensity on vascular and autonomic components of the baroreflex following glucose ingestion in adolescents

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) on baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in a sample of healthy adolescents, and how acute exercise bouts of different intensities alter the effects of the OGTT on BRS. METHODS: Thirteen male adolescents (14.0 ± 0.5 years) completed three conditions on separate days in a counterbalanced order: (1) high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE); (2) moderate-intensity interval exercise (MIIE); and (3) resting control (CON). At ~ 90 min following the conditions, participants performed an OGTT. Supine heart rate and blood pressure were monitored continuously at baseline, 60 min following the conditions, and 60 min following the OGTT. A cross-spectral method (LFgain) was used to determine BRS gain. Arterial compliance (AC) was assessed as the BRS vascular component. LFgain divided by AC (LFgain/AC) was used as the autonomic component. RESULTS: Although non-significant, LFgain moderately decreased post-OGTT when no exercise was performed (pre-OGTT = 24.4 ± 8.2 ms mmHg(− 1); post-OGTT = 19.9 ± 5.6 ms mmHg(− 1); ES = 0.64, P > 0.05). This was attributed to the decrease in LFgain/AC (pre-OGTT = 1.19 ± 0.5 ms µm(− 1); post-OGTT = 0.92 ± 0.24 ms µm(− 1); ES = 0.69, P > 0.05). Compared to CON (Δ = − 4.4 ± 8.7 ms mmHg(− 1)), there were no differences for the pre–post-OGTT delta changes in LF/gain for HIIE (Δ = − 3.5 ± 8.2 ms mmHg(− 1)) and MIIE (Δ = 1.3 ± 9.9 ms mmHg(− 1)) had no effects on BRS following the OGTT (all ES < 0.5). Similarly, compared to CON (Δ = − 0.23 ± 0.40 ms µm(− 1)) there were no differences for the pre–post-OGTT delta changes in LF/gain for HIIE (Δ = − 0.22 ± 0.49 ms µm(− 1)) and MIIE (Δ = 0.13 ± 0.36 ms µm(− 1)). CONCLUSION: A moderate non-significant decrease in BRS was observed in adolescents following a glucose challenge with no apparent effects of exercise.