Attenuated responses to sympathoexcitation in individuals with Down syndrome

2003 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 2158-2165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Fernhall ◽  
Mari Otterstetter

This study evaluated blood pressure and heart rate responses to exercise and nonexercise tasks as indexes of autonomic function in subjects with and without Down syndrome (DS). Twenty-four subjects (12 with and 12 without DS) completed maximal treadmill exercise, isometric handgrip (30% of maximum), and cold pressor tests, with heart rate and blood pressure measurements. Maximal heart rate and heart rate and blood pressure responses to the isometric handgrip and cold pressor tests were reduced in subjects with DS ( P < 0.05). Both early (first 30 s) and late (last 30 s) responses were reduced. Obesity did not appear to influence the results, as both obese and normal-weight subjects with DS exhibited similar responses, and controlling for body mass index did not alter the results between controls and subjects with DS. Individuals with DS, without congenital heart disease, exhibit reduced heart rate and blood pressure responses to isometric handgrip exercise and cold pressor testing, consistent with autonomic dysfunction. Autonomic dysfunction may partially explain chronotropic incompetence observed during maximal treadmill exercise in individuals with DS.

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. McLean ◽  
P. Sathasivam ◽  
K. MacNaughton ◽  
T. E. Graham

Two types of cold pressor tests were used to study gender differences in cardiovascular and plasma catecholamine responses. Ten male and ten female, young, healthy Caucasian subjects participated. The tests consisted of (1) 5 °C air blown at 3.5–4 m/s onto part of the face for 4 min and (2) the open right hand immersed to the wrist in water at 5 °C for 4 min. Heart rate, blood pressure (BP), and venous plasma norepinephrine were collected before, during, and 5 min after the 4 min of cold exposures. Test order was decided by a Latin square design, and the subjects rested in a quiet room for 30 min between the two tests. All parameters demonstrated significant (p < 0.01) increases from rest during the cold tests. Gender differences were significant (p < 0.01) in diastolic and systolic BP in each test with the males having a greater response, but gender differences were not found in heart rate or norepinephrine concentration. The study demonstrated that gender differences exist in the blood pressure responses to local cold, but that the mechanisms involved do not include a parallel difference in heart rate or venous plasma norepinephrine concentration.Key words: blood pressure, gender differences, stroke volume.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 374-379
Author(s):  
Kate M. Edwards ◽  
Nathan B. Morris

Acute stress responses are known to include increases in heart rate and blood pressure, as well as increases in the number of circulating immune cells, all of which are governed by the autonomic nervous system. This laboratory practical measures cardiovascular and circulating immune cell responses to a passive (cold pressor) and active (mental arithmetic) acute stress task in student participants. The results allow them to examine the different patterns of autonomic response they elicit (approximated by heart rate and blood pressure responses), and knowledge of these responses can then be used to infer the governing autonomic aspect of the increases in circulating immune cells from the results. This activity can be either adapted from teacher-led methods to inquiry, asking students to design the details of the acute stress tasks, or developed by asking students to design a follow-up experiment that could be used to provide direct evidence for their conclusions. Data collected provide a platform for teaching data analysis and interpretation, as well as critical thinking.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (14) ◽  
pp. 1105-1110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Almeida ◽  
Tiago Peçanha ◽  
Pedro Mira ◽  
Livia Souza ◽  
Lílian da Silva ◽  
...  

AbstractOffspring of hypertensive parents present autonomic dysfunction at rest and during physiological maneuvers. However, the cardiac autonomic modulation during exercise remains unknown. This study tested whether the cardiac autonomic modulation would be reduced in offspring of hypertensive parents during exercise. Fourteen offspring of hypertensive and 14 offspring of normotensive individuals were evaluated. The groups were matched by age (24.5±1.0 vs. 26.6±1.5 years; p=0.25) and BMI (22.8±0.6 vs. 24.2±1.0 kg/m2; p=0.30). Blood pressure and heart rate were assessed simultaneously during 3 min at baseline followed by 3-min isometric handgrip at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction. Cardiac autonomic modulation was evaluated using heart rate variability. Primary variables were subjected to two-way ANOVA (group vs. time). P value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Blood pressure and heart rate were similar between groups during exercise protocol. In contrast, offspring of hypertensive subjects showed a reduction of SDNN (Basal=34.8±3.5 vs. 45.2±3.7 ms; Exercise=30.8±3.3 vs. 41.5±3.9 ms; p group=0.01), RMSSD (Basal=37.1±3.7 vs. 52.0±6.0 ms; Exercise=28.6±3.4 vs. 41.9±5.3 ms; p group=0.02) and pNN50 (Basal=15.7±4.0 vs. 29.5±5.5%; Exercise=7.7±2.4 vs. 18.0±4.3%; p group=0.03) during the exercise protocol in comparison with offspring of normotensive parents. We concluded that normotensive offspring of hypertensive parents exhibit impaired cardiac autonomic modulation during exercise.


1993 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 2086-2091
Author(s):  
K. J. Slavik ◽  
J. LaPointe

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the underlying cause for the resting bradycardia and lower resting blood pressure demonstrated in conscious rats that performed 12 wk of treadmill exercise conditioning. The influence of inhibitory dopamine (DA2) receptors and alpha 2-adrenoceptors, which are known to mediate bradycardia and hypotension, was assessed in exercise-conditioned (EC) and nonexercised conditioned (NC) rats. To accomplish this, preferential DA2 and alpha 2-agonists and antagonists were administered at rest to conscious rats after they participated in an exercise conditioning program. The results obtained with the DA2 antagonist metoclopramide (15 mg/kg ip) alone suggest that there is physiological activation of cardiovascular DA2 receptors in EC rats but not in NC rats. Furthermore, the results obtained with the DA2 agonist bromocriptine (1.5 mg/kg ip) suggest that the DA2 receptor-mediated bradycardia and hypotension are greater in EC rats than in NC rats. In addition, heart rate and blood pressure responses to the alpha 2-agonist clonidine (0.1 mg/kg ip) and antagonist yohimbine (1 mg/kg ip) were not different between EC and NC rats. These data suggest that enhanced DA2 receptor influence accounts, in part, for the resting bradycardia and lower resting blood pressure demonstrated in EC rats after 12 wk of exercise conditioning.


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C. Whited ◽  
Kevin T. Larkin

Sex differences in cardiovascular reactivity to stress are well documented, with some studies showing women having greater heart rate responses than men, and men having greater blood pressure responses than women, while other studies show conflicting evidence. Few studies have attended to the gender relevance of tasks employed in these studies. This study investigated cardiovascular reactivity to two interpersonal stressors consistent with different gender roles to determine whether response differences exist between men and women. A total of 26 men and 31 women were assigned to either a traditional male-oriented task that involved interpersonal conflict (Conflict Task) or a traditional female-oriented task that involved comforting another person (Comfort Task). Results demonstrated that women exhibited greater heart rate reactions than men independent of the task type, and that men did not display a higher reactivity than women on any measure. These findings indicate that sex of participant was more important than gender relevance of the task in eliciting sex differences in cardiovascular responding.


1985 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 533-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Parati ◽  
Guido Pomidossi ◽  
Agustin Ramirez ◽  
Bruno Cesana ◽  
Giuseppe Mancia

1. In man evaluation of neural cardiovascular regulation makes use of a variety of tests which address the excitatory and reflex inhibitory neural influences that control circulation. Because interpretation of these tests is largely based on the magnitude of the elicited haemodynamic responses, their reproducibility in any given subject is critical. 2. In 39 subjects with continuous blood pressure (intra-arterial catheter) and heart rate monitoring we measured (i) the blood pressure and heart rate rises during hand-grip and cold-pressor test, (ii) the heart rate changes occurring during baroreceptor stimulation and deactivation by injection of phenylephrine and trinitroglycerine, and (iii) the heart rate and blood pressure changes occurring with alteration in carotid baroreceptor activity by a neck chamber. Each test was carefully standardized and performed at 30 min intervals for a total of six times in each subject. 3. The results showed that the responses to any test were clearly different from one another and that this occurred in all subjects studied. For the group as a whole the average response variability (coefficient of variation) ranged from 10.2% for the blood pressure response to carotid baroreceptor stimulation to 44.2% for the heart rate response to cold-pressor test. The variability of the responses was not related to basal blood pressure or heart rate, nor to the temporal sequence of the test performance. 4. Thus tests employed for studying neural cardiovascular control in man produce responses whose reproducibility is limited. This phenomenon may make it more difficult to define the response magnitude typical of each subject, as well as its comparison in different conditions and diseases.


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