Background: Hyperglycemia can cause vascular impairment and exercise training improves it. It is unknown whether a single bout of high-intensity aerobic interval exercise (HIIE) can improve vasoactive impairment induced by high blood sugar in genetically predisposed hypertensive individuals.

Objective: To study the effects of HIIE on forearm blood flow (FBF) during postprandial hyperglycemia in healthy young men with a parental history of hypertension.

Materials and Methods: Ten normotensive young men (aged 21.3±1.4 year, BMI 21.3±2.1 kg/m²), with hypertensive parent(s), participated in two experimental conditions, oral glucose loading (OGL) without exercise and OGL with exercise, in a randomized crossover fashion on two separated visits. Glucose solution was ingested 10 minutes after treadmill exercise, which was performed for thirty-eight minutes. In both occasions, the area under curve of FBF (FBF_AUC) during reactive hyperemia using venous occlusion plethysmography was determined at baseline and thirty minutes after OGL.

Results: Differences in FBF response were found between the two conditions. FBF_AUC significantly decreased from 1,240.7±266.7 ml/100 ml/5 minute at baseline to 1,069.4±152.7 ml/100 ml/5 minute (p=0.011) after OGL without exercise. As for with exercise, FBF_AUC at 30 minutes after OGL tended to increase from baseline (baseline level 1,135.7±215.1 versus 1,253.3±193.7 ml/100 ml/5 minute at 30 minutes after OGL, p=0.104). The FBF_AUC in response to OGL with exercise was significantly higher when compared to without exercise (p=0.001).

Conclusion: HIIE can prevent a decline of blood flow due to high blood glucose in offspring of hypertensive parent(s). Such exercise may play an important role in preventing impaired vascular function and the development or progression of atherosclerosis in healthy young men at risk of hypertension.