An interventional study of High-intensity interval training in Prediabetic State, sponsored by Université de Sherbrooke. Recruiting at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 45 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-11.
Sponsored by Université de Sherbrooke · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
Exercise is well-known to improve skeletal muscle energy metabolism and is an established intervention to improve muscle insulin sensitivity and to counter the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, given the 24h rhythmicity in substrate metabolism previously observed in healthy, lean men and the lack of such rhythmicity in men with insulin-resistance, the investigator hypothesize that appropriate timing of exercise training can maximize the metabolic health effects of exercise. Indeed, a preliminary study in humans revealed that afternoon high-intensity interval training (HIIT) exercise was more effective than morning exercise in improving 24h blood glucose levels in men with T2D. Another recent study in mice showed that the time of day is a critical factor in augmenting the beneficial effects of exercise on the skeletal muscle metabolome as well as on whole-body energy homeostasis. However, human studies that specifically target the impact of timing of exercise training on glucose homeostasis and metabolic health are scarce and the potential underlying mechanisms largely unknown.
The overarching goals of this project is to improve 24-hour rhythmicity of metabolism in men and women with prediabtes by appropriate timing of exercise and to assess its effect on metabolic health and immune response. Acute and prolonged exercise interventions timed in the morning vs late afternoon will be carried out in individuals with prediabetes to determine whether acute exercise in the afternoon and prolonged exercise training in the afternoon can improve peripheral insulin sensitivity, compared to exercise in the morning, and positively affect adipose tissue dietary fatty acid storage and partitioning of dietary fatty acids in skeletal muscles.
Three metabolic studies A, B and C using PET imaging will be carried out at the CRCHUS. The 12-week exercise training intervention will consist of supervised cycling high-intensity interval training (i.e. short bouts of high-intensity exercise interspersed with short periods of rest) every other day at the CRCHUS. Continuous glucose monitoring will be used to measure 24h glucose profiles over 3-4 days prior to and following the acute exercise bout and again during the last week of the intervention. Continuous blood pressure monitoring will be used over 18-24 h, at the beginning and at the end of the 12 week-training.
Participants will take part in three postprandial metabolic studies: 1) before (A); 2) 18-24h after an acute exercise bout (B), and; 3) after 12-weeks of exercise training (C). Experiments will be conducted between 07:30 AM and 5:00 PM, following a 12 hr fast. Adipose tissue dietary fatty acid storage and partitioning of dietary fatty acids in skeletal muscles will be measured by the oral [18F-]-FTHA PET method. Changes in lean tissue mitochondrial function in vivo will be determined using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Participants will complete Visit A (baseline), followed 7 to 14-days later by a pre-breakfast (9 AM) or pre-dinner (4PM) exhaustive glycogen lowering exercise bout. The following day (18-24h after the exercise bout), participants will return for a second metabolic visit (Visit B). Participants will then begin a 12-week supervised high-intensity interval training program, performed either only in the morning or only in the afternoon (9 AM vs. 4 PM), on every other day. At the end of the 12 weeks, and at least 48h after the last exercise bout, participants will return for their final metabolic visit (Visit C).
999 studies on the registry are indexed under Prediabetic State; 238 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 48 is below the median of 65 across 844 interventional studies indexed under Prediabetic State.
Browse Prediabetic State studies →Université de Sherbrooke is the lead sponsor of 289 studies on the registry; 68 are open to participants now.
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Pre-diabetes:
Exclusion Criteria:
Participant to perform high-intensity interval training in the morning (\~9 am)
Behavioral: High-intensity interval training
Participant to perform high-intensity interval training in the morning (\~4 pm)
Behavioral: High-intensity interval training
3 times per week high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on a cycle ergometer for 12 weeks.
Change in Adipose tissue dietary fatty acid (DFA) partitioning
Determined using oral administration of \[18F\]-Fluoro-6-Thia-Heptadecanoic Acid (FTHA) during whole-body acquisition
Time frame: Measured 180 minutes, 240 minutes, 300 minutes and 360 minutes after liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in lean organ (heart, liver, skeletal muscle) DFA partitioning
Determined using oral administration of \[18F\]-Fluoro-6-Thia-Heptadecanoic Acid (FTHA) during whole-body acquisition
Time frame: Measured 180 minutes, 240 minutes, 300 minutes and 360 minutes after liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in skeletal muscle ATP fluxes in vivo
Determined using phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Time frame: Measured 170 minutes before and 30 minutes following liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in glucose control.
Determined using continuous glucose monitoring and repeated blood samples obtained during metabolic visit.
Time frame: Measured continuously 2-3 days before and 2-3 days after first and final exercise session, after 12-week exercise intervention.
Change in adipose tissue nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) metabolism.
Determined using \[11C\]-palmitate with dynamic PET acquisition
Time frame: Measured 150 minutes before and 60 minutes following liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in lean organ (heart, liver, skeletal muscle) NEFA metabolism.
Determined using \[11C\]-palmitate with dynamic PET acquisition
Time frame: Measured 150 minutes before and 60 minutes following liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in insulin sensitivity
Determined by measuring circulating glucose, NEFA, insulin and C-peptide following the liquid meal.
Time frame: Measured every 60 minutes following liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in dietary fatty acid oxidation
Determined by measuring breath \[13C\]-carbon dioxide enrichment.
Time frame: Measured every 60 minutes following liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in total substrate utilisation
Determined using indirect calorimetry
Time frame: Measured every 60 minutes following liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in postprandial plasma NEFA turnover.
Determined using continuous infusion of \[7,7,8,8-2H\]-palmitate.
Time frame: Blood sample collected every 60 min following liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in postprandial plasma glucose turnover
Determined using continuous infusion of \[1-3H\]-glucose
Time frame: Blood sample collected every 60 minutes following liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in left ventricular function by Positron Emitting Positron (PET) ventriculography
Determined using \[11C\]-palmitate combined with ECG-gated cardiac dynamic PET acquisition.
Time frame: Measured 150 minutes before and 60 minutes following liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in plasma distribution of DFA metabolites
Determined using oral administration of \[18F\]-FTHA to quantify the incorporation of 18F-labeled fatty acids given with the liquid meal, into triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and NEFA.
Time frame: Blood sample collected every 60 minutes following liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in composition and activation status of immune cell subsets
Determined by extensive Fluorescence Activated cell Sorting (FACS) analysis
Time frame: Blood sample collected before and after liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
Change in plasma cytokine levels
Determined by ELISA
Time frame: Blood sample collected before and after liquid meal at baseline visit, 18-24hours after acute exercise bout and >48hours after final exercise bout (after 12 week intervention).
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