Key Words
peripheral muscle, COPD
CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE, COPD
Physical exercise training is recommended in all international guidelines on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), being an evidence-based central therapeutic measure for these patients (It remains unresolved whether nonhypoxemic COPD patients should exercise with supplemental oxygen (Because supplemental oxygen is known to reduce ventilatory limitation, thereby improving exercise tolerance (In this study, we set out to investigate whether exercise training and supplemental oxygen affect peripheral muscle adaptation, which incorporates important prognostic markers for this population. This is the first training intervention study in patients with COPD, which aims to assess the impact of supplemental oxygen, providing parallel analyses on muscle function and mass evaluated by MRI.