Cardiac Rehabilitation in Heart Failure and Sarcopenia

NCT07245459 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: E2-24-7194
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 22
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effects of a cardiac rehabilitation program consisting of two different aerobic exercise modalities on aerobic capacity, symptoms, quality of life, and sarcopenia in patients with heart failure who present with one or more symptoms such as dyspnea, difficulty walking, muscle weakness, or limitations in activities of daily living and who are in need of cardiac rehabilitation.

Conditions

Heart Failure

Keywords

heart failure; cardiac rehabilitation; sarcopenia; Myokines

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• VO2 max

  The maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) in Cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET)

  Day 1 and 6th week

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Myostatin

  Day 1 and 6th week

• BDNF

  Day 1 and 6th week

Study Arms (2)

HIIT (high intensity interval training)

EXPERIMENTAL

For the HIIT group, the first week consists of three sessions including a 5-minute warm-up at 30% of VO₂max, 20 minutes of exercise at 60% of VO₂max, and a 5-minute cool-down at 30% of VO₂max. Starting from the second week, interval training will be implemented as follows: 5 sessions of 20 minutes with intervals alternating between 65-80% of VO₂max for 60 seconds and 50% of VO₂max for 120 seconds; 5 sessions of 20 minutes alternating 65-80% of VO₂max for 120 seconds and 50% of VO₂max for 120 seconds; and 5 sessions of 20 minutes alternating 65-80% of VO₂max for 240 seconds and 50% of VO₂max for 180 seconds.

Other: HIIT (high intensity interval training)

MCT (moderate intensity continuous training)

EXPERIMENTAL

For the MCT group, the program will be included a 5-minute warm-up at 30% of VO₂max, followed by 20 minutes of continuous exercise at 60% of VO₂max, and a 5-minute cool-down at 30% of VO₂max.

Other: MCT (moderate intensity continuous training)

Interventions

HIIT (high intensity interval training) OTHER

For the HIIT group, the first week consists of three sessions including a 5-minute warm-up at 30% of VO₂max, 20 minutes of exercise at 60% of VO₂max, and a 5-minute cool-down at 30% of VO₂max. Starting from the second week, interval training will be implemented as follows: 5 sessions of 20 minutes with intervals alternating between 65-80% of VO₂max for 60 seconds and 50% of VO₂max for 120 seconds; 5 sessions of 20 minutes alternating 65-80% of VO₂max for 120 seconds and 50% of VO₂max for 120 seconds; and 5 sessions of 20 minutes alternating 65-80% of VO₂max for 240 seconds and 50% of VO₂max for 180 seconds

HIIT (high intensity interval training)

MCT (moderate intensity continuous training) OTHER

For the MCT group, the program will be included a 5-minute warm-up at 30% of VO₂max, followed by 20 minutes of continuous exercise at 60% of VO₂max, and a 5-minute cool-down at 30% of VO₂max.

MCT (moderate intensity continuous training)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 75 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Patients aged 18-75 years heart failure (HF) NYHA class II-III left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) \<0.40, BMI between 18-30 kg/m² standard medications at stable doses for at least two weeks prior to enrollment

You may not qualify if:

• a history of cardiac implant device placement within the previous 6 weeks a planned cardiac device implantation heart transplantation within the next 12 months acute coronary syndrome within the prior 6 weeks severe valvular or congenital heart disease severe hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy acute myocarditis or pericarditis intracardiac thrombus primary pulmonary hypertension peripartum cardiomyopathy uncontrolled hypertension (systolic blood pressure \>200 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure \>110 mmHg) severe arrhythmias.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ankara City Hospital Bilkent: lead
• Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi Gulhane Tip Fakultesi: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Ankara Bilkent City Hospital

Ankara, Çankaya, 06800, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Li Q, Zhang L, Zhang Z, Wang Y, Zuo C, Bo S. A Shorter-Bout of HIIT Is More Effective to Promote Serum BDNF and VEGF-A Levels and Improve Cognitive Function in Healthy Young Men. Front Physiol. 2022 Jun 29;13:898603. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.898603. eCollection 2022.

  PMID: 35846013 BACKGROUND

• Donelli da Silveira A, Beust de Lima J, da Silva Piardi D, Dos Santos Macedo D, Zanini M, Nery R, Laukkanen JA, Stein R. High-intensity interval training is effective and superior to moderate continuous training in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: A randomized clinical trial. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2020 Nov;27(16):1733-1743. doi: 10.1177/2047487319901206. Epub 2020 Jan 21.

  PMID: 31964186 BACKGROUND

• Springer J, Springer JI, Anker SD. Muscle wasting and sarcopenia in heart failure and beyond: update 2017. ESC Heart Fail. 2017 Nov;4(4):492-498. doi: 10.1002/ehf2.12237.

  PMID: 29154428 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Heart Failure; Sarcopenia

Interventions

High-Intensity Interval Training

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Heart Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Muscular Atrophy; Neuromuscular Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Atrophy; Pathological Conditions, Anatomical; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

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

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: The patients will be blinded to group allocation, and the exercise group will be determined through randomization, after which the appropriate program will be administered accordingly.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Ankara Bilkent City Hospital

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 13, 2025
• First Posted: November 24, 2025
• Study Start: August 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: December 30, 2024
• Study Completion: February 1, 2025
• Last Updated: November 24, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)