Does Biological Sex Influence Insulin Sensitivity and Muscle Metabolism Following High-intensity Interval Exercise?

NCT06074003 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 44435
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 24
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

High-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) is a type of exercise that involves alternating periods of intense exercise with periods of rest. HIIE has been shown to improve many aspects of cardiovascular and metabolic health in a time-efficient manner (e.g., only 20 minutes per exercise session). An important health benefit of exercise is improved blood sugar control, which can help reduce the risk of metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes. A single session of HIIE has been shown to improve blood sugar in males, but it is unknown if females achieve the same health benefit. It is also not fully understood how exercise improves blood sugar in males and females. Therefore, the purpose of this project is 1) to determine if a single session of HIIE improves blood sugar control in males and females, and 2) to evaluate if changes in skeletal muscle can explain the beneficial effects of HIIE on blood sugar.

Conditions

Exercise

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Insulin area under the curve

  Insulin area under the curve measured during glucose tolerance test

  3 hours

Secondary Outcomes (14)

• Glucose area under the curve

  3 hours

• Mean insulin concentration

  3 hours

• Mean glucose concentration

  3 hours

• Peak insulin concentration

  3 hours

• Peak glucose concentration

  3 hours

Study Arms (2)

Females

EXPERIMENTAL

Female participant group

Other: Seated Rest (Non-exercise control); Other: High-intensity interval exercise

Males

EXPERIMENTAL

Male participant group

Other: Seated Rest (Non-exercise control); Other: High-intensity interval exercise

Interventions

Seated Rest (Non-exercise control) OTHER

Sitting for 30 minutes

Females; Males

High-intensity interval exercise OTHER

Performing a single session of high-intensity interval exercise on a cycle ergometer

Females; Males

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 35 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• yrs
• VO2peak considered recreationally active as defined as 'fair' or 'good' (males: 41.6- 50.5ml/kg/min; females: 35-41.9 ml/kg/min) based on Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) normative fitness values.
• BMI between 18-27 kg/m2
• structured exercise sessions/week, and not training for any specific sport
• Weight stable (within ± 2kg for at least 6 months)
• Eumenorrheic (female only), defined as menstrual cycle lengths ≥ 21 days and ≤ 35 days resulting in 9 or more consecutive periods per year)
• Non-smoker

You may not qualify if:

• Diagnosed with cardiovascular or metabolic disease, hyper- or hypogonadism, and/or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
• The use of medication for managing blood glucose or lipid metabolism
• Current use of oral contraceptives or use within the last 3 months
• Irregular menstrual cycles (\<21 days or \>35 days)
• Pregnant, lactating, or menopausal
• Recreational smoking of any kind
• Inability to perform the study exercise protocols or follow the pre-trial dietary or physical activity controls
• Taking medications affecting substrate metabolism (corticosteroids or nSAIDs)
• Actively engaging in a low-carbohydrate diet (e.g., ketogenic, Atkins)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Toronto: lead

Study Sites (1)

Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport

Toronto, Ontario, M5S2C9, Canada

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Motor Activity

Interventions

High-Intensity Interval Training

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Physical Conditioning, Human; Exercise; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Stephanie Estafanos, MSc

  University of Toronto

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 27, 2023
• First Posted: October 10, 2023
• Study Start: October 15, 2023
• Primary Completion: June 26, 2025
• Study Completion: June 26, 2025
• Last Updated: August 19, 2025

Record last verified: 2024-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)