Effects of high-intensity training on glycemic metabolism in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background: With the exponential increase in hours of exposure in sedentary behavior, associated with greater availability of pre-prepared foods, there is an incidence and prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases. Objective: This review was to analyze the possible effects of high-intensity training on the glycemic metabolism in Type 2 Diabetics in the last 10 years. Methods:  Searches were carried out between February and April 2022 in the following databases: National Library Of Medicine (PUBMED), Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciElO), Latin American Literature and of the Caribbean in Health Sciences (LILACS), using Medical Subject Heading (MeSH), together with the relevant Entry Terms and Boolean operators (AND and OR). The search key was built using the PICOS strategy (Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome and Type of Study). Inclusion criteria were randomized clinical trials; population aged ≤ 65 years and diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; high-intensity exercise as an intervention; glycemia as one of the outcomes; published in English, Spanish and/or Portuguese between 2012 and 2022 and available in full text. Results: After the searches, 85 scientific articles were identified. Of these, 7 studies were selected because they met the proposed objective and criteria. Sample sizes ranged from 7-52 participants, with a mean of 24.17 ± 12.33. All studies were conducted with adults. With regard to the period of intervention, it was observed that high-intensity training was performed from a single session to 12 weeks, at a frequency of up to three times a week. Conclusion: Studies have shown that after performing high-intensity training, there were significant reductions in glycemic values. Despite high-intensity training having contributed significantly to reducing glycemic values, the results of this systematic review must be interpreted with caution, due to the small number of articles included and their respective methodological limitations.