Greater fatigue resistance of dorsiflexor muscles in people with prediabetes than type 2 diabetes

Although exercise can prevent progression to T2D among people with prediabetes, little is known about fatigue during exercise in people with prediabetes compared to T2D. The purpose of the study was to compare the magnitude and mechanisms of fatigability of the ankle dorsiflexor muscles between people with prediabetes and T2D. Ten people with prediabetes (6 females, 51.7 ± 6.9 years) and fourteen with T2D (6 females, 52.6 ± 6.2 years) who were matched for age, body mass index and physical activity performed an intermittent (6 s contraction: 4 s relaxation) fatiguing task at 75% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) with the dorsiflexors. Electrical stimulation was used to assess contractile properties of the dorsiflexor muscles before and after the fatiguing task. People with prediabetes had a longer time-to-task failure, i.e. greater fatigue resistance (7.9 ± 5.1 vs. 4.9 ± 2.5 min, P = 0.04), and slower rate of decline of the (potentiated) twitch amplitude (6.5 ± 3.1 vs. 16.5 ± 11.7%·min⁻¹, P = 0.03) than people with T2D. Shorter time-to-task failure (i.e. greater fatigability) was associated with greater baseline MVC torque (r² = 0.21, P = 0.02) and faster rate of decline of twitch amplitude (r² = 0.39, P = 0.04). The ankle dorsiflexor muscles of males and females with prediabetes were more fatigue resistant than people with T2D, and fatigability was associated with contractile mechanisms.