Greater Influence of Aerobic Fitness on Autonomic Support of Blood Pressure in Young Women Than in Older Women
- PMID: 32336237
- PMCID: PMC7249227
- DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.119.14042
Greater Influence of Aerobic Fitness on Autonomic Support of Blood Pressure in Young Women Than in Older Women
Abstract
Aging increases autonomic support of blood pressure; however, the impact of aerobic fitness on autonomic support of blood pressure has not been addressed in women. As such, we hypothesized that aerobic fitness would be related to the change in blood pressure during ganglionic blockade such that women with greater aerobic fitness would have a blunted fall in blood pressure during ganglionic blockade due to increased vagal tone. Thirteen young premenopausal and 13 older postmenopausal women completed a screening visit where aerobic fitness (maximal oxygen consumption, VO2max) was measured. On a separate study day, participants were instrumented for assessment of muscle sympathetic nerve activity, heart rate (electrocardiography), and beat by beat blood pressure (arterial catheter and pressure transducer) and underwent pharmacological blockade of the autonomic ganglia using trimethaphan camyslate. Heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle sympathetic nerve activity were analyzed before and during ganglionic blockade. In young women, there was a significant relationship between aerobic fitness and the change in blood pressure during ganglionic blockade (r=0.761, P=0.003). In older women, there was no relationship between aerobic fitness and the change in blood pressure during ganglionic blockade (r=-0.106, P=0.73). Measures of heart rate variability were related to fitness in young women, but not older women (root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats, r=0.713, P=0.006 versus r=-0.172, P=0.575). Our data suggest that in young women, autonomic support of blood pressure is attenuated in those that are highly fit; however, this relationship is not significant in older women.
Keywords: aging; blood pressure; heart rate; menopause; women.
Figures


Similar articles
-
Aging enhances autonomic support of blood pressure in women.Hypertension. 2014 Feb;63(2):303-8. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.113.02393. Epub 2013 Dec 9. Hypertension. 2014. PMID: 24324040 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
Influence of sympathetic nerve activity on aortic hemodynamics and pulse wave velocity in women.Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2017 Feb 1;312(2):H340-H346. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00447.2016. Epub 2016 Dec 6. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2017. PMID: 27923789 Free PMC article.
-
Aging Alters the Relative Contributions of the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System to Blood Pressure Control in Women.Hypertension. 2018 Nov;72(5):1236-1242. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.118.11550. Hypertension. 2018. PMID: 30354803 Free PMC article.
-
The aging cardiovascular system: changes in autonomic function at rest and in response to exercise.Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2001 Dec;11 Suppl:S189-95. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.11.s1.s189. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2001. PMID: 11915920 Review.
-
Exercise and aging: autonomic control of the circulation.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1994 May;26(5):568-76. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1994. PMID: 8007804 Review.
Cited by
-
The impact of ageing and sex on sympathetic neurocirculatory regulation.Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Aug;116:72-81. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2021.01.001. Epub 2021 Jan 16. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2021. PMID: 33468420 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Integrative cardiovascular control in women: Regulation of blood pressure, body temperature, and cerebrovascular responsiveness.FASEB J. 2021 Feb;35(2):e21143. doi: 10.1096/fj.202001387R. Epub 2020 Nov 5. FASEB J. 2021. PMID: 33151577 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Aerobic fitness is inversely associated with neurohemodynamic transduction and blood pressure variability in older adults.Geroscience. 2021 Dec;43(6):2737-2748. doi: 10.1007/s11357-021-00389-z. Epub 2021 May 31. Geroscience. 2021. PMID: 34056679 Free PMC article.
-
Comparison Between Treadmill and Bicycle Ergometer Exercises in Terms of Safety of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease.Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Jun 20;9:864637. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.864637. eCollection 2022. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022. PMID: 35795362 Free PMC article.
-
Blood pressure and heart rate variability to assess autonomic response to an acute bout of high intensity interval exercise in healthy young adults.Physiol Rep. 2024 Jul;12(14):e16142. doi: 10.14814/phy2.16142. Physiol Rep. 2024. PMID: 39054267 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Jones PP, Christou DD, Jordan J and Seals DR. Baroreflex buffering is reduced with age in healthy men. Circulation. 2003;107:1770–4. - PubMed
-
- Sugawara J, Komine H, Hayashi K, Yoshizawa M, Otsuki T, Shimojo N, Miyauchi T, Yokoi T, Maeda S and Tanaka H. Systemic alpha-adrenergic and nitric oxide inhibition on basal limb blood flow: effects of endurance training in middle-aged and older adults. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2007;293:H1466–72. - PubMed
-
- Poehlman ET and Danforth E, Jr. Endurance training increases metabolic rate and norepinephrine appearance rate in older individuals. Am J Physiol. 1991;261:E233–9. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Research Materials