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. 2022 Jan;122(1):157-168.
doi: 10.1007/s00421-021-04822-1. Epub 2021 Oct 7.

Effect of breath-hold on the responses of arterial blood pressure and cerebral blood velocity to isometric exercise

Hironori Watanabe  1 , Takuro Washio  1   2 , Shotaro Saito  1 , Shigehiko Ogoh  3   4
Affiliations

Effect of breath-hold on the responses of arterial blood pressure and cerebral blood velocity to isometric exercise

Hironori Watanabe et al. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: The present study examined the effect of breath-hold without a Valsalva maneuver during isometric exercise on arterial blood pressure (ABP) and cerebral blood flow (CBF).

Methods: Twenty healthy adults (15 men and five women) randomly performed only breath-hold without a Valsalva maneuver (BH), and an isometric handgrip exercise for 30 s at 40% of individual maximal voluntary contraction with continuous breathing (IHG) and with breath-hold without the Valsalva maneuver (IHG-BH). Mean ABP (MAP) and blood velocity in the middle (MCA Vmean) and posterior cerebral arteries (PCA Vmean) were continuously measured throughout each protocol.

Results: MAP was elevated during the IHG-BH compared with IHG (P < 0.001) and BH (P = 0.001). Similarly, both MCA Vmean and PCA Vmean were higher during IHG-BH compared with IHG and BH (all P < 0.001). Moreover, the relative change in MAP from the baseline was correlated with that in both cerebral blood velocities during the BH (MCA Vmean: r = 0.739, P < 0.001 and PCA Vmean: r = 0.570, P = 0.009) and IHG-BH (MCA Vmean: r = 0.755, P < 0.001 and PCA Vmean: r = 0.617, P = 0.003) condition, but not the IHG condition (P = 0.154 and P = 0.306).

Conclusion: These results indicate that during isometric exercise, a breath-hold enhances an exercise-induced increase in MAP and, consequently, MCA Vmean and PCA Vmean.

Keywords: Cerebral hyperperfusion; Handgrip exercise; Hypertension; Middle cerebral artery; Posterior cerebral artery.

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