Evidence summary (Added 2022)

19 SLE patients were involved a randomized controlled trial, with meal tests and muscle biopsies taken before and after a 12-week, twice-a-week, supervised exercise training program in an intra-hospital gymnasium (1). Surrogates of insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function were taken from meal test and total and membrane GLUT4 and proteins related to insulin signalling was taken from muscle biopsy. The exercised group had significant decreases in fasting insulin and in the insulin response to meal test and increased in AMPK Thr 172 phosphorylation. This could suggest exercise increased insulin sensitivity in SLE patients.

Quality of evidence:
Grade C – Low Quality – small sample size in single study

Strength of recommendation
Grade 2 – Weak Recommendation

Conclusion:
Exercise may increase insulin sensitivity in SLE patients but further investigations are required before this can be confirmed.

References:

1. Benatti FB, Miyake CNH, Dantas WS, Zambelli VO, Shinjo SK, Pereira RMR, Silva MER, Sá-Pinto AL, Borba E, Bonfá E, Gualano B. Exercise Increases Insulin Sensitivity and Skeletal Muscle AMPK Expression in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Front Immunol. 2018 Apr 27;9:906. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00906. PMID: 29755474; PMCID: PMC5934440.