Cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) during physical stress is prognostic for incident cardiovascular disease. CVR is influenced by perceived pain. However, there is limited data on the effect of sex differences and repeated exposures to painful stimuli on CVR. We measured blood pressure (BP) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV; an index of arterial stiffness) at rest, during isometric handgrip (HG) exercise at 30% of maximum voluntary contraction, and during post-exercise circulatory occlusion (PECO) during two identical trials in 39 adults (20M/19F; 18-39 yrs). We assessed participants' perceived pain using a visual analog scale after the first minute of each stimulus. We collected BP during minute two of each stimulus and cf-PWV during minute three of each stimulus. In male participants, we observed moderate associations (Ps≤0.023) between perceived pain and changes in brachial diastolic (ρ=0.620) and mean BP (ρ=0.597); central diastolic, mean, and systolic BP (ρs=0.519-0.654); and cf-PWV (ρ=0.680) during PECO in trial #1, but not trial #2 (Ps≥0.162). However, in female participants, there were no associations between pain and CVR indices during either trial (Ps≥0.137). Irrespective of sex, reductions in perceived pain during trial #2 relative to trial #1 were weakly to moderately associated (Ps≤0.038) with reductions in brachial diastolic (ρ=0.346), mean (ρ=0.379), and systolic BP (ρ=0.333); central mean (ρ=0.400) and systolic BP (ρ=0.369); and cf-PWV (ρ=0.526). These findings suggest 1) there are sex differences in pain modulation of CVR in young adults and 2) habituation blunts pain and CVR during PECO, irrespective of sex.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), expressed as VO 2 max (mL/kg/min), is associated with resting AS (carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity [cf-PWV]) and the AS response to simulated fire suppression activities in firefighters. Methods: In firefighters (n = 20, 34 ± 8 years), AS was determined using cf-PWV (m/s) before and after a fire simulation exercise. VO 2 max was determined using a standard treadmill protocol. Linear regression models, adjusted for body fat percentage, are reported as unstandardized (b) and standardized (β) betas (effect sizes). Results: H1: there was a moderate (ie, β = 0.5-0.8), inverse association between cf-PWV and VO 2 max (b = −0.80; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.14 to −0.02; β = 0.71). H2: there was a moderate, positive association between Δcf-PWV and VO 2 max (b = 0.05; 95% CI, 0.00-0.10; β = 0.62). Conclusions: These findings indicate that CRF may protect against arterial stiffening in firefighters.
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