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.