Cardiorespiratory fitness, pulmonary function and C-reactive protein levels in nonsmoking individuals with diabetes

The objective of this study was to evaluate cardiorespiratory fitness and pulmonary function and the relationship with metabolic variables and C-reactive protein (CRP) plasma levels in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). Nineteen men with diabetes and 19 age- and gender-matched control subjects were studied. All individuals were given incremental cardiopulmonary exercise and pulmonary function tests. In the exercise test, maximal workload (158.3 +/- 22.3 vs 135.1 +/- 25.2, P = 0.005), peak heart rate (HRpeak: 149 +/- 12 vs 139 +/- 10, P = 0.009), peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak: 24.2 +/- 3.2 vs 18.9 +/- 2.8, P < 0.001), and anaerobic threshold (VO2VT: 14.1 +/- 3.4 vs 12.2 +/- 2.2, P = 0.04) were significantly lower in individuals with diabetes than in control subjects. Pulmonary function test parameters, blood pressure, lipid profile (triglycerides, HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol), and CRP plasma levels were not different in control subjects and individuals with DM. No correlations were observed between hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c), CRP and pulmonary function test and cardiopulmonary exercise test performance. In conclusion, the results demonstrate that nonsmoking individuals with DM have decreased cardiorespiratory fitness that is not correlated with resting pulmonary function parameters, HbA1c, and CRP plasma levels.