Improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity after electrical stimulation-assisted cycling in people with spinal cord injury

Design: Longitudinal training. Objectives: The purpose was to determine the effect of electrical stimulation (ES)-assisted cycling (30 min/day, 3 days/week for 8 weeks) on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting: The Steadward Centre, Alberta, Canada. Methods: Seven participants with motor complete SCI (five males and two females aged 30 to 53 years, injured 3-40 years, C5-T10) underwent 2-h oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT, n=7) and hyperglycaemic clamp tests (n=3) before and after 8 weeks of training with ES-assisted cycling. Results: Results indicated that subjects' glucose level were significantly lower at 2 h OGTT following 8 weeks of training (122.4 +/- 10 vs 139.9 +/- 16, P = 0.014). Two-hour hyperglycaemic clamps tests showed improvement in all three people for glucose utilisation and in two of three people for insulin sensitivity. Conclusions: These results suggested that exercise with ES-assisted cycling is beneficial for the prevention and treatment of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in people with SCI.