Exercise increases arterial stiffness independent of blood pressure in older Veterans

Background:Exercise-induced changes in arterial function could contribute to a hypertensive response to exercise (HRE) in older individuals. We performed the present analysis to define the acute arterial stiffness response to exercise in ambulatory older adults.Methods:Thirty-nine Veterans (>60 years old), without known cardiovascular disease, participated in this study, including 19 Veterans who were hypertensive (70.8 +/- 6.8 years, 53% women) and 20 Veterans who were normotensive (72.0 +/- 9.3 years, 40% women). Arterial stiffness parameters were measured locally with carotid artery ultrasound and regionally with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) before and during the 10 min after participants performed a Balke maximal exercise treadmill stress test.Results:The arterial stiffness response to exercise was similar for control and hypertensive participants. At 6 min postexercise, cfPWV was significantly increased (Delta 1.5 +/- 1.9 m/s, P = 0.004) despite mean blood pressure (BP) having returned to its baseline value (Delta 1 +/- 8 mmHg, P = 0.79). Arterial mechanics modeling also showed BP-independent increases in arterial stiffness with exercise (P < 0.05). Postexercise cfPWV was correlated with postexercise SBP (r = 0.50, P = 0.004) while baseline cfPWV (r = 0.13, P = 1.00), and postexercise total peripheral resistance (r = -0.18, P = 1.00) were not.Conclusion:In older Veterans, exercise increases arterial stiffness independently of BP and the arterial stiffness increase with exercise is associated with increased postexercise SBP. BP-independent increases in arterial stiffness with exercise could contribute to a HRE in older adults.

Automated summary

This study found that exercise increases arterial stiffness in older individuals, independently of blood pressure. The increase in arterial stiffness is associated with an increase in postexercise systolic blood pressure, which could contribute to exercise-induced hypertension in older adults.