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Aerobic Interval Training Elicits Different Hemodynamic Adaptations Between Heart Failure Patients with Preserved and
Tieh-Cheng Fu1, Ning-I Yang, Chao-Hung Wang
1From the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (T-CF, S-LC, J-SW) and Heart Failure Center, Department of Internal Medicine (N-IY, C-HW, W-JC), Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan; and College of Medicine (N-IY, C-HW, W-JC), Healthy Aging Research Center, Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Science, College of Medicine (J-SW), Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, College of Medicine (T-CF), and Chinese Herbal Medicine Research Team, Healthy Aging Research Center, and School of Traditional Chinese Medicine (T-LP), Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan. The current affiliations for Prof. Tai-Long Pan are the School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University, and the Research Center for Industry of Human Ecology, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Objective:
This investigation explored how aerobic interval training influences central or peripheral hemodynamic response(s) to exercise in patients with heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) or those with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).
Design:
One hundred twenty HF patients were divided into four groups: HFpEF and HFrEF with aerobic interval training (3-min intervals at 40% and 80% VO2peak for 30 mins/day, 3 days/wk for 12 wks) and general health care groups. Exercise hemodynamics in the heart, frontal cerebral lobe, and vastus lateralis muscle, and oxygenation in the frontal cerebral lobe and vastus lateralis muscle were measured before and after the intervention.
Results:
Aerobic interval training significantly (1) improved pumping function with enhanced peak cardiac power index in the HFrEF group and improved diastolic function with reduction of the E/E' ratio in the HFpEF group, (2) increased blood distribution to the frontal cerebral lobe/vastus lateralis muscle and O2 extraction by vastus lateralis muscle during exercise in the HFpEF group compared with the HFrEF group, (3) heightened VO2peak in both HFpEF and HFrEF groups and lowered the VE/VCO2 slope in the HFpEF group, and (4) increased the Short Form-36 physical/mental component scores and decreased the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire score in both HFpEF and HFrEF groups.
Conclusions:
Aerobic interval training effectively enhances cardiac hemodynamic response to exercise in HFrEF patients while increasing the delivery/use of O2 to exercising skeletal muscles and frontal cerebral lobe tissues in HFpEF patients, thereby improving global/disease-specific quality-of-life measures in these HF patients.
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