Acute effect of aerobic and resistance exercise on glycemia in individuals with type 2 diabetes: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is the most prevalent in the world population, and exercise is one of the main non-pharmacological interventions to treat this health condition.

Objective

To evaluate the effect of a single session of aerobic exercise (AE) and/or resistance exercise (RE) on post-exercise glycemia in individuals with T2D.

Methods

A literature search was conducted in CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Google Scholar, LILACS, MEDLINE/Ovid, SciELO, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science up to May 2024, randomized and non-randomized clinical trials were included. The risk of bias and the certainty of evidence were assessed using the Cochrane "Risk of Bias" and GRADE tools, respectively.

Results

Initially, 7210 studies were identified, 26 were included in the systematic review, and 13 in the meta-analysis. A single session of continuous AE (CAE), interval AE (IAE), or RE promoted a significant reduction in glycemia in the first minute after exercise (-1.48 mmol/L [95 % CI:-1.73, -1.23]; -2.66 mmol/L [95 % CI:-3.48, -1.84]; -1.18 mmol/L [95 % CI:-2.15, -0.21], respectively), compared to the control session. This reduction persisted for up to 10 min after the CAE session (-1.61 mmol/L [95 % CI:-2.21, -1.01]) and up to 30 min after the IAE session (-1.11 mmol/L [95 % CI:-1.88, -0.35]). The risk of bias was assessed as uncertain, and the quality of the evidence was moderate.

Conclusion

CAE and IAE reduces glycemia for a period of up to 10 or 30 min after its completion, respectively, while a single session of RE reduces glycemia only in the first-minute post-exercise in individuals with T2D.