Sedentary Behaviors and Physical Activity Habits Independently Affect Fat Oxidation in Fasting Conditions and Capillary Glucose Levels After Standardized Glucose-Rich Meal in Healthy Females.

PURPOSE

Sedentary behaviors and muscle inactivity are being growingly recognized as important risk factors for health, adjunctively and independently from a scarce physical activity (PA), although the metabolic mechanism underneath is barely clear. To explore the relation between sedentary behaviors (SBs) and metabolism, we measured the metabolic profile in fasting condition and after oral glucose overload in a group of women, along with objective monitoring of their PA/sedentary lifestyle habits.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Thirteen women (age: 32.5 ± 16.1 years; BMI: 24.0 ± 3.3 kg/m), recruited among university students and research staff, underwent indirect calorimetry to assess fat and carbohydrate contribution to energy metabolism, in fasting conditions and after a glucose-rich standard meal (about 45 g of glucose). Glucose concentration in capillary blood was determined in fasting state and 15 and 30 min after meal. Habitual PA and SBs in the previous week were continuously monitored with Actigraph accelerometers.

RESULTS

After adjustment for age, the contribution of fat oxidation to metabolic energy sources, normalized for fat-free mass, in fasting conditions was significantly correlated with time spent in sitting/lying position during wake hours ( < 0.001), independent from PA habits, whereas capillary blood peak and change of glucose concentration after the meal were significantly and inversely correlated with average daily moderate to vigorous PA ( = 0.025 and = 0.019, respectively), independent from average daily sitting/lying time.

CONCLUSIONS

Here, we report for the first time a direct effect of muscle inactivity on increased fat oxidation in fasting conditions, which can be hypothesized as a preliminary condition for the development of insulin resistance. We also report the direct independent effect of PA on the capacity to respond to a glycemic load, so that SBs and reduced PA appear to concur, although independently, to the increased health risk, as elsewhere observed on an epidemiological ground.