Effects of exercise at different times on postprandial lipemia and endothelial function.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of previous exercise on metabolic, hormonal, and endothelial responses to an oral fat-tolerance test (OFTT).

METHODS

Twelve healthy, recreationally trained men (age = 22.3 +/- 2.5 yr, weight = 80.7 +/- 12.4 kg, BMI = 25.1 +/- 3.1 kg.m(-2)) volunteered for this study. In a crossover fashion, subjects completed three OFTT trials that involved no exercise (NoEx) or exercise performed 16 h (EX-16) or 4 h (EX-4) before the ingestion of a meal (13 kcal.kg(-1) and 1.4 g of fat per kilogram of body weight). Blood was collected before and after the meal and hourly for 6 h. Brachial artery reactivity was measured using ultrasound before and at 2, 4, and 6 h after the meal. Dietary intake and exercise were standardized 4 d before the OFTT. The exercise session consisted of six resistance exercises and 30 min of running on a treadmill. The washout period between trials was, on average, 5 d.

RESULTS

Compared with NoEx, there were significant (P < 0.05) decreases in triglyceride area under the curve (AUC) during EX-16 (-26%) and EX-4 (-15%). Compared with NoEx, there were decreases in insulin AUC during EX-16 (-7%, P < 0.05) and EX-4 (-5%, NS). EX-4 resulted in a significantly larger fasting arterial diameter than EX-16 and NoEx, but there were no other significant effects on endothelial function. Lipemic variables did not show correlations with endothelium function for any of the trials.

CONCLUSION

An acute exercise session, regardless of the time point chosen (i.e., EX-16 or EX-4), reduced to a similar extent the total and incremental lipemic responses compared with the NoEx condition.