Sex differences in postprandial glucose response to short bouts of exercise: A randomized controlled trial

The objective of this study was to assess sex differences in PPG responses to short stair stepping bouts, and to describe their intensity and metabolic cost.

Crossover trial.

34 participants (age: 25.9±5.5y; women=14) underwent 4 oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) during rest or with stair-stepping bouts at self-selected, moderate pace for 1, 3, and 10min. Blood was collected every 15min during the OGTTs and assessed for glucose. Participants also underwent maximal aerobic capacity assessment. Expired gases were collected during capacity testing, and each stair-stepping bout.

Normalized to body weight there was no significant interaction for sex with stair-stepping trials (p=0.445, η_p²=0.03), or time (p=0.069, η_p²=0.09), or trial by time (p=0.264, η_p²=0.04). Women had higher mean glucose values than men (15(CI=3, 27)%, p=0.015). iAUC also showed no interaction of sex*trial (p=0.059, η_p²=0.09). Women had higher iAUC values (meanΔ=-29(-48, -11)%, p=0.003). There was a main effect for trial with 10min showing the largest reduction from control for women (e.g. AUC -10(-6, -13)%, p<.001) and men (-8(2, 13)%, p=.010). Metabolic cost of the stair stepping bouts showed no interaction of sex*trial (p=0.715, η_p²=0.01) and no difference between sexes (meanΔ=-1.3(-5.9, 3.4)%, p=0.571). Intensity was higher for women for the 3min (60±11 vs. 48±9%VO₂max, p=0.003) and 10min (67±8 vs. 54±12%VO₂max, p=0.002) bouts. Moreover, both sexes underestimated the true intensity of stepping.

Both sexes had similar responses to short bouts of exercise, which they perceived as less intense than indicated by objective assessment. Stair stepping reduces postprandial glucose response with similar effectiveness for both sexes. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03400774.