Ulrik Wisloff

Norwegian University of Science and Technology | NTNU · Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging

Background Exercise is an effective treatment in a broad spectrum of cardiovascular diseases. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has shown superior effect on cardiorespiratory fitness and equal or superior effect on morbidity and quality of life (QoL) compared to moderate continuous exercise training. However, evidence of the efficacy and risk...

Objectives: Aortic valve stenosis shares many risk factors with coronary disease, the latter being strongly and inversely associated with physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness. However, the relationship between physical activity, fitness and aortic valve stenosis needs to be established. We explored whether physical activity habits and e...

Low cardiorespiratory fitness, measured as maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), is associated with all-cause mortality and disease-specific morbidity and mortality and is estimated to have a large genetic component (~60%). However, the underlying mechanisms explaining the associations are not known, and no association study has assessed shared genetics...

The past decade has seen a dramatic rise in consumer technologies able to monitor a variety of cardiovascular parameters. Such devices initially recorded markers of exercise, but now include physiological and health-care focused measurements. The public are keen to adopt these devices in the belief that they are useful to identify and monitor cardi...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public Institution(s). Main funding source(s): The project was funded by grants from The Liaison Committee for Education, Research and Innovation in Central Norway, St. Olavs University Hospital (Trondheim, Norway), Nord-Trøndelag Hospital Trust (Levanger, Norway), and Simon Fougner Hartmann's Famil...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): The Liaison Committee for Education, Research and Innovation in Central Norway (Samarbeidsorganet). Background Cardiorespiratory fitness is an important marker of cardiopulmonary health. The majority of published data is however based...

Aims: Cardiovascular structures adapt to meet metabolic demands, but current methodology for indexing by body size does not accurately reflect such variations. Therefore, we aimed to investigate how left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) and left atrial maximal volume (LAVmax) are associated with absolute (L/min) peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak...

Cardiorespiratory fitness is established as an important prognostic factor for cardiovascular and general health. In clinical settings cardiorespiratory fitness is often measured by cardiopulmonary exercise testing determining the gold-standard peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak). Due to the considerable impact of age and sex on VO2peak, results from card...

Background Exercise training improves peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak) in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Multiple adaptations have been addressed, but the role of circulating endothelium-repairing cells and vascular function have not been well defined. Objectives The authors investigated effects of moderate-intensity continuou...

Background: Continuous technologic development and updated recommendations for image acquisitions creates a need to update the current normal reference ranges for echocardiography. The best method of indexing cardiac volumes is unknown. Objectives: The authors used 2- and 3-dimensional echocardiographic data from a large cohort of healthy indivi...

Based on the premise that physical activity/exercise impacts hippocampal structure and function, we investigated if hippocampal metabolites for neuronal viability and cell membrane density (i.e., N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr)) were higher in older adults performing supervised exercise compared to following national physical...

Background: Coronary atheroma volume is associated with risk of coronary events in coronary artery disease (CAD). Exercise training is a cornerstone in primary and secondary prevention of CAD, but the effect of exercise on coronary atheromatous plaques is largely unknown. Purpose: We assessed the effect of six months supervised high intensity in...

Introduction Epidemiological evidence suggests that both poor cardiovascular fitness and low muscle mass or strength markedly increase the rate of cognitive decline and incident dementia in older adults. Results from exercise trials for the improvement of cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have reported mixed results. Th...

Objectives. Severe obesity is associated with a high risk of comorbidities and alterations of cardiac structure and function. The primary aim of the study was to investigate the proportion of diastolic dysfunction (DD) at baseline, and changes in cardiac function from baseline (T1) to 6 months follow-up (T2) among participants with severe obesity a...

Background: Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) is a physical activity metric that translates heart rate during physical activity into a simple score, where a weekly score of 100 or greater is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Here, we prospectively investigated the association between PAI and ischemic heart di...

Background: Exercise intolerance is a cardinal feature of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and so far exercise training (ET) is the most effective treatment. Since the improvement in exercise capacity is only weakly associated with changes in diastolic function other mechanisms, like changes in the skeletal muscle, contribute to impr...

Background Coronary atheromatous plaque geometry, expressed as plaque burden (PB) or total atheroma volume (TAV) are both strongly related to the risk of acute and recurrent coronary events and outcomes in coronary artery disease (CAD). Exercise training is a cornerstone in the primary and secondary prevention of atherosclerotic complications, but...

Background: The Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) translates heart rate during daily activity into a weekly score. Obtaining a weekly PAI score ≥100 is associated with reduced risk of premature morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases. Here, we determined whether changes in PAI score are associated with changes in risk of incident de...

Introduction Patients with substance use disorder (SUD) have high prevalence of lifestyle-related comorbidities. Physical exercise is known to yield substantial prophylactic impact on disease and premature mortality, and there seems to be an inverse association between physical fitness and adverse health outcomes. High-intensity training is regarde...

Introduction Given that exercise training reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), induces changes in the blood composition and has widespread systemic benefits, it is reasonable to hypothesise that exercised plasma (ExPlas) may have rejuvenative properties. The main objective is to test safety and tolerability of transfusing ExPlas...

Background The use of psychotropics is high among the older population and may have detrimental effects on their physical and mental health. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a strong and modifiable measure of health and declines with age. We aimed to study the association of change in CRF with use of psychotropics in community-dwelling older adul...

Objective The objective of this study was to investigate whether a 5-year exercise intervention and change in peak oxygen uptake ( $$V{\text{O}}_{{2{\text{peak}}}}$$ V O 2 peak ) is associated with cognitive function in older adults. Methods Nine hundred and forty-five participants (48% women, mean age at study end 78.2 ± 2.02 years) from the Gene...

Aerobic fitness and exercise could preserve white matter (WM) integrity in older adults. This study investigated the effect on WM microstructural organization of 5 years of exercise intervention with either supervised moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), high-intensity interval training (HIIT), or following the national physical activity...

Aims: In heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), the reduction of nitric oxide (NO)-bioavailability and consequently endothelial dysfunction leads to LV stiffness and diastolic dysfunction of the heart. Besides shear stress, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) stimulates endothelial cells to increased production of NO via phosphorylatio...

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): Central Norway Regional Health Authority Norwegian Health Association Introduction Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Several studies have shown that low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a major ris...

Background The effect of physical exercise on lipid content of coronary artery plaques is unknown. With near infrared spectroscopy we measured the effect of high intensity interval training (HIIT) on lipid content in coronary plaques in patients with stable coronary artery disease following percutaneous coronary intervention. Methods and Results I...

Purpose: Low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a major risk factor for CVD and a stronger predictor of CVD morbidity and mortality than established risk factors. The genetic component of CRF, quantified as peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), is estimated to be ~60%. Unfortunately, current studies on genetic markers for CRF have been limited by small sa...

Physical inactivity has been identified as an important risk factor for dementia. High levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) have been shown to reduce the risk of dementia. However, the mechanism by which exercise affects brain health is still debated. Fractal dimension (FD) is an index that quantifies the structural complexity of the brain. Th...

Objectives: Low physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness are known risk factors for coronary artery disease, but how they affect the risk of undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery is not established. We explored how physical activity and estimated cardiorespiratory fitness affect the risk of coronary surgery and postoperative outcom...

Aims Iron deficiency (ID) is linked to reduced aerobic exercise capacity and poor prognosis in patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF); however, data for HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is scarce. We assessed the relationship between iron status and diastolic dysfunction as well as aerobic exercise capaci...

Background and aims Low cardiorespiratory fitness is a strong and independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Serum profiling of healthy individuals with large differences in cardiorespiratory fitness may therefore reveal early biomarkers of CVD development. Thus, we aimed to identify circulating lipoprotein subfractions differentiall...

We investigated if a five-year supervised exercise intervention with moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) versus control; physical activity according to national guidelines, attenuated the growth of white matter hyperintensities (WMH). We hypothesized that supervised exercise, in particular HIIT,...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and there is currently no cure. Novel approaches to treat AD and curb the rapidly increasing worldwide prevalence and costs of dementia are needed. Physical inactivity is a significant modifiable risk factor for AD, estimated to contribute to 12.7% of AD cases worldwide. Exercise interve...

Skeletal muscle displays remarkable plasticity upon exercise and is also one of the organs most affected by aging. Despite robust evidence that aging is associated with loss of fast-twitch (type II) muscle fibers, the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Here, we identified an exercise-induced long noncoding RNA, CYTOR, whose exercise res...

Abstract Background Low cardiorespiratory fitness (V̇O2peak) is highly associated with chronic disease and mortality from all causes. Whilst exercise training is recommended in health guidelines to improve V̇O2peak, there is considerable inter-individual variability in the V̇O2peak response to the same dose of exercise. Understanding how genetic fa...

Objective To prospectively investigate the association between personal activity intelligence (PAI) — a novel metabolic metric which translates heart rate during physical activity into a simple weekly score — and mortality in relatively healthy participants in China whose levels and patterns of physical activity in addition to other lifestyle facto...

Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of 5 years of supervised exercise training (ExComb), and the differential effects of subgroups of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), with control on the cardiovascular risk profile in older adults. Methods and results: Older adults aged 7...

Background: Aerobic exercise is proposed to attenuate cognitive decline in aging. We investigated the effect of different aerobic exercise interventions and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) upon cognition throughout a 5-year exercise intervention in older adults. Methods: 106 older adults (52 women, age 70-77 years) were randomized into high-intensi...

Background Exercise training improves peak oxygen uptake (VO2) in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. In other cardiovascular diseases, exercise training improves vascular function and increases levels of circulating endothelium-repairing cells. We aimed to investigate the effects of mo...

Objective: To examine whether 5 years of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) increases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration more than moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) and control (CON) in older men and women. Methods: A total of 1567 older adults (790 [50.4%] women) were randomized (2:1:1) to either CON (n=...

Aims: In patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), exercise training improves the quality of life and aerobic capacity (peakV·O2). Up to 55% of HF patients, however, show no increase in peakV·O2 despite adequate training. We hypothesized that circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) can distinguish exercise low responders (LR) fr...

Purpose: The aim was to examine the effect of a 5-year exercise intervention at different intensities on brain structure in older adults from the general population partaking in the randomized controlled trial Generation 100 Study. Participants and methods: Generation 100 Study participants were invited to a longitudinal neuroimaging study befor...

Exercise training is generally beneficial for cardiovascular health, improving stroke volume, cardiac output, and aerobic capacity. Despite these benefits, some evidence indicates that endurance training may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), particularly in highly trained individuals. Among multiple mechanisms, autonomic tone changes a...

Background Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) is a new metric for physical activity tracking, and is associated with reduced risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. We prospectively investigated whether PAI is associated with lower body weight gain in a healthy population. Methods We included 85,243 participants (40,037 men and 45,206 wo...

Objective: Investigate variability related to image acquisition and reading process for echocardiographic measures of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, and its influence on classification of LV diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). Methods: Forty participants (19 women) mean age 62 (28-88) years underwent echocardiographic examinations twice by...

Background: Skeletal muscle (SM) alterations contribute to exercise intolerance in heart failure patients with preserved (HFpEF) or reduced (HFrEF) left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Protein degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome-system (UPS), nuclear apoptosis, and reduced mitochondrial energy supply is associated with SM weakness in HFr...

Purpose: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) appears to be safe and effective in cardiovascular diseases. However, there is a paucity of data on the effect of HIIT for patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE). The present randomized controlled trial (RCT) therefore examined the efficiency and safety of HIIT in patients with acute PE. Metho...

Purpose: To investigate the association between blood volume, hemoglobin mass (Hb mass ), and peak oxygen uptake (VO 2peak ) in healthy older adults. Methods: Fifty fit or unfit participants from the prospective randomized Generation 100 Study ( n = 1,566) were included (age- and sex-specific VO 2peak above or below average values). Blood, plasma,...

Physical exercise has profound effects on quality of life and susceptibility to chronic disease; however, the regulation of skeletal muscle function at the molecular level after exercise remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that the benefits of exercise on muscle function are linked partly to microtraumatic events that result in accumulation o...

Background MicroRNA (miR)-210 expression is induced by acute and chronic hypoxia and provides prognostic information in patients with aortic stenosis and acute coronary syndrome. We hypothesized that circulating miR-210 concentrations could provide diagnostic and prognostic information in patients with acute heart failure (HF). Methods We measured...

Aims Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is an increasingly prevalent disease. Physical exercise has been shown to alter disease progression in HFpEF. We examined cardiomyocyte Ca²⁺ homeostasis and left ventricular function in a metabolic HFpEF model in sedentary and trained rats following 8 weeks of moderate‐intensity continuous...

Objectives Investigate if low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was associated with and acted as a mediator of excess all-cause mortality rate in persons suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared with the general population. Methods All-cause mortality was analysed using Cox regression modelling in patients with RA (n=348) and controls (n=60...

There is an incomplete understanding of the underlying pathophysiology in hypertensive emergencies, where severely elevated blood pressure causes acute end-organ injuries, as opposed to the long-term manifestations of chronic hypertension. Furthermore, current biomarkers are unable to detect early end-organ injuries like hypertensive encephalopathy...

Importance: Endurance exercise is effective in improving peak oxygen consumption (peak V̇o2) in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). However, it remains unknown whether differing modes of exercise have different effects. Objective: To determine whether high-intensity interval training, moderate continuous trainin...

Primary aim: Compare change in estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (eCRF change) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with population-based age- and sex-matched controls during ~ 11-year follow-up and identify variables associated with eCRF change. Secondary aim: Compare eCRF level in RA patients and controls. eCRF change from the second (HUNT2 19...

Background Heart rate follows a diurnal variation and slow heart rhythms occur primarily at night. Objective The lower heart rate during sleep is assumed to be neural in origin but here we tested whether a day-night difference in intrinsic pacemaking is involved. Methods In vivo and in vitro ECG recordings, vagotomy, transgenics, quantitative pol...

Background Personal activity intelligence (PAI) is a metric developed to simplify a physically active lifestyle for the participants. Regardless of following today's advice for physical activity, a PAI score ≥100 per week at baseline, an increase in PAI score, and a sustained high PAI score over time were found to delay premature cardiovascular dis...

Background Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is established as an important prognostic factor for future health, and specifically for cardiovascular disease. Few large studies have examined the longitudinal change in the gold-standard measure of CRF, namely peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), in free-living populations. Purpose To assess the age-related c...

Background: Moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) ameliorates dysmetabolism in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS). The impact of low- (1HIIT) versus high-volume high-intensity interval training (4HIIT) versus MICT on central adiposity, insulin resistance, and atherogenic dyslipidemia in patients with MetS has not yet been reported. Me...

Higher levels of physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with lower risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the relationship of aerobic PA and CRF with risk of atherosclerotic CVD outcomes and heart failure (HF) seem to be distinct. Furthermore, recent studies have raised concerns of potential toxic...

Objective: To evaluate the effect of five years of supervised exercise training compared with recommendations for physical activity on mortality in older adults (70-77 years). Design: Randomised controlled trial. Setting: General population of older adults in Trondheim, Norway. Participants: 1567 of 6966 individuals born between 1936 and 194...

Background: Large longitudinal studies on change in directly measured peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) is lacking, and its significance for change of cardiovascular risk factors is uncertain. We aimed to assess ten-year change in VO2peak and the influence of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), and the association between change in VO2peak and chang...

Aims: Endurance training improves aerobic fitness and cardiac function in individuals with heart failure. However, the underlying mechanisms are not well characterized. Exercise training could therefore act as a tool to discover novel targets for heart failure treatment. We aimed to associate changes in Ca2+ handling and electrophysiology with mic...

The cardiac benefits of exercise have been recognized for centuries. Studies have undisputedly shown that regular exercise is beneficial for the cardiovascular system in young, old, healthy and diseased populations. For these reasons, physical activity has been recommended worldwide for cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment. Although the...

Importance Personal activity intelligence (PAI) is a novel activity metric that can be integrated into self-assessment heart rate devices, and translates heart rate variations during exercise into a weekly score. Previous studies relating to PAI have been conducted in the same populations from Norway where the PAI metric has been derived, limiting...

Maternal exercise during pregnancy results in metabolic benefits for offspring, but how mothers transfer these benefits to newborns has been a mystery. A new study now shows that a breast-milk component transmits the metabolic effects of exercise to offspring