Similar cardiovascular and autonomic responses in trained type 1 diabetes mellitus and healthy participants in response to half marathon

Aims: This field experiment examined whether trained people with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) have similar cardiovascular and baroreflex alterations after a 21-km running race when compared to healthy people. Methods: Nine T1D (39.0 +/- 11.1 yr; 175.0 +/- 10.2 cm; 70.8 +/- 8.7 kg) were matched with 9 healthy participants (42.4 +/- 5.8 yr; 175.7 +/- 6.7 cm; 72.1 +/- 8.5 kg) who ran an official half-marathon. Before and 1-hour after the race, cardiovascular variables, sympathetic activity (catecholamines), parasympathetic (heart rate variability analysis) modulation and cardiac baroreflex function (transfer function analysis) were assessed during supine rest and a squat stand test (forced blood pressure change). Results: Performance time and weight loss [104.0 +/- 13.2 and 111.0 +/- 18.7 min; -2.57 +/- 1.05 kg (-1.88 +/- 0.88%) and -2.29 +/- 1.15 kg (-1.59 +/- 0.59%)] for healthy and T1D participants, respectively) were similar. Before running, no significant differences in any cardiovascular or autonomic variables were noted between the groups. After 1 h of recovery, both groups exhibited post-exercise hypotension, accompanied by increased sympathetic activity, decreased parasympathetic modulation, and reduced cardiac baroreflex sensitivity. Conclusions: Our results showed that the pattern of change in cardiovascular and autonomic nervous activity to strenuous exercise are well maintained in T1D participants with a training history of at least 5 years. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.