Lifelong Physical Activity Determines Vascular Function in Late Postmenopausal Women

Abstract

Introduction The study evaluated the role of lifelong physical activity for leg vascular function in postmenopausal women (61 ± 1 yr). Method The study design was cross-sectional with three different groups based on self-reported physical activity level with regard to intensity and volume over the past decade: inactive (n = 14), moderately active (n = 12), and very active (n = 15). Endothelial-dependent and smooth muscle-dependent leg vascular function were assessed by ultrasound Doppler measurements of the femoral artery during infusion of acetylcholine (Ach), the nitric oxide (NO) donor sodium nitroprusside and the prostacyclin analog epoprostenol. Thigh muscle biopsies, arterial and venous plasma samples were obtained for assessment of vasodilator systems. Results The very active group was found to have 76% greater responsiveness to Ach compared with the sedentary group accompanied by 200% higher prostacyclin synthesis during Ach infusion. Smooth muscle cell responsiveness to sodium nitroprusside and epoprostenol was not different between groups. The protein amount of endothelial NO synthase and endogenous antioxidant enzymes in muscle tissue was higher in the very active than the inactive group. The moderately active group had a similar endothelial and smooth muscle cell responsiveness as the inactive group. A secondary comparison with a smaller group (n = 5) of habitually active young (24 ± 2 yr) women indicated that smooth muscle cell responsiveness and endothelial responsiveness are affected by age per se. Conclusions This study shows that leg vascular function and the potential to form prostacyclin and NO in late postmenopausal women, is influenced by the extent of lifelong physical activity.

Aerobic High-Intensity Exercise Training Improves Cardiovascular Health in Older Post-menopausal Women

“…This lack of a change in FMD with training in late post-menopausal women is in agreement with studies reporting no change in brachial artery FMD after training in women past menopause (Pierce et al, 2011;Moreau et al, 2013;Santos-Parker et al, 2017). In contrast, microvascular function, as assessed by femoral arterial infusion of either acetylcholine or a prostacyclin analog, in recent postmenopausal women has been shown to be improved by intense aerobic training similar to the current study (Nyberg et al, 2016) and has also been shown to be higher in life-long trained than in sedentary older women (Gliemann et al, 2020). The current finding on absence of training induced improvements in FMD with intense aerobic training suggests that intensity of aerobic training is not a determining factor for the FMD response in this population.…”

The impact of exercise training on endothelial function in postmenopausal women: a systematic review

“…All cross-sectional studies compared trained versus untrained postmenopausal women (Gliemann, Rytter et al, 2020;Hagmar et al, 2006;McKechnie et al, 2001;Pierce et al, 2011;Sanders et al, 2015;Santos-Parker et al, 2017;Serviente & Witkowski, 2019), however, one study also compared trained and untrained men (Pierce et al, 2011).…”

“…There remain inconsistencies across cross-sectional studies as postmenopausal women who were habitually active or elite endurance athletes demonstrated higher (Gliemann, Rytter et al, 2020;Hagmar et al, 2006;McKechnie et al, 2001;Sanders et al, 2015), similar (McKechnie et al, 2001;Pierce et al, 2011;Santos-Parker et al, 2017) or lower (Serviente & Witkowski, 2019) endothelial function compared to inactive postmenopausal women. This contrasts with meta-analysis findings that older athletes generally have higher endothelial function compared to untrained older adults (Montero et al, 2014(Montero et al, , 2015.…”

The impact of aging and physical training on angiogenesis in the musculoskeletal system

“…According to the latest concept of cardiovasomobility, the maintenance of health and quality of life is related to the cardiovascular and skeletal muscle systems, and is linked to physical activity ( Trinity et al, 2022 ). Indeed, many studies demonstrate that lifelong exercise is associated with preserved cardiovascular and musculoskeletal function ( Iversen et al, 2011 ; Fiuza-Luces et al, 2018 ; Gries et al, 2018 ; Gliemann et al, 2020 ), whereas a sedentary lifestyle is accompanied by cardiovascular and skeletal muscle dysfunction that accelerates the onset of varied diseases ( Booth et al, 2017 ). The implementation of physical activity as a daily health requirement seems to be especially important regarding aging, since age is an independent risk factor of CVD ( Benjamin et al, 2017 ).…”