The effect of an acute bout of resistance exercise on carotid artery strain and strain rate

Abstract

Arterial wall mechanics likely play an integral role in arterial responses to acute physiological stress. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the impact of low and moderate intensity double‐leg press exercise on common carotid artery (CCA) wall mechanics using 2D vascular strain imaging. Short‐axis CCA ultrasound images were collected in 15 healthy men (age: 21 ± 3 years; stature: 176.5 ± 6.2 cm; body mass; 80.6 ± 15.3 kg) before, during, and immediately after short‐duration isometric double‐leg press exercise at 30% and 60% of participants' one‐repetition maximum (1RM: 317 ± 72 kg). Images were analyzed for peak circumferential strain (PCS), peak systolic and diastolic strain rate (S‐SR and D‐SR), and arterial diameter. Heart rate (HR), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) were simultaneously assessed and arterial stiffness indices were calculated post hoc. A two‐way repeated measures ANOVA revealed that during isometric contraction, PCS and S‐SR decreased significantly (P < 0.01) before increasing significantly above resting levels post exercise (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). Conversely, D‐SR was unaltered throughout the protocol (P = 0.25). No significant differences were observed between the 30% and 60% 1RM trials. Multiple regression analysis highlighted that HR, BP, and arterial diameter did not fully explain the total variance in PCS, S‐SR, and D‐SR. Acute double‐leg press exercise is therefore associated with similar transient changes in CCA wall mechanics at low and moderate intensities. CCA wall mechanics likely provide additional insight into localized intrinsic vascular wall properties beyond current measures of arterial stiffness.

Carotid artery wall mechanics in young males with high cardiorespiratory fitness

“…Intra‐observer reliability was assessed by performing two ultrasound assessments 1 h apart, after a 20 min period of quiet supine rest. The variability of the 2D strain variables agreed well with previously reported data from our laboratory (Black et al., ) and was considerably lower than the variability reported elsewhere (Bjallmark et al., ; Charwat‐Resl et al., ; Yuda et al., ).…”

“…An increase in E p , 1 and 2 stiffness indices indicates an increase in arterial stiffness, whereas an increase in distensibility indicates a greater magnitude of arterial distension per unit of pressure (Laurent et al, 2006). Stiffness indices were calculated as follows: agreed well with previously reported data from our laboratory (Black et al, 2016) and was considerably lower than the variability reported elsewhere (Bjallmark et al, 2010;Charwat-Resl et al, 2016;Yuda et al, 2011).…”

Beat-to-Beat Blood Pressure and Two-dimensional (axial and radial) Motion of the Carotid Artery Wall: Physiological Evaluation of Arterial Stiffness

“…At present, many research achievements based on speckle tracking ultrasound imaging to estimate CCA wall mechanics have been obtained 15 16 17 18 . For instance, the association between the acute double-leg press exercise and similar transient changes in CCA wall mechanics at low and moderate intensities has been demonstrated 19 . Similarly, the BPV is an important factor in assessments of end-organ damage, independent of the traditional BP level; the target organs of such studies have mainly been the heart, brain, and kidneys 20 .…”

Electrocardiogram-Based Timings Cause Systematic Errors in Vascular Strain Measures: A Method for Error Correction and Estimation of Pulse Transit Time

“…Speckle-tracking ultrasonography (STE) has been applied to the assessment of circumferential strain (ɛ) and strain rate (SR) of the common carotid artery (CCA). [1][2][3][4][5] Originally developed for echocardiography, 6 the analysis of ɛ is tethered to key points of the electrocardiogram (ECG). Thus, to prevent measurement drift STE software assumes no deformation (i.e 0% ɛ) at the start of the cardiac cycle defined by the QRS wave.…”

“…All images were acquired by the same sonographer using a Vivid IQ ultrasound machine with a 6-13 MHz linear transducer (GE Healthcare, Cambs, UK), at 106.9 fps. Images were analysed as previously detailed 1,3,5 using EchoPac software (GE Healthcare, Cambs, UK). The resulting data files were further analysed by applying a 1000-point cubic spline to either the ɛ or SR data, which was used to identify raw and corrected peak ɛ (outlined below), and TTP.…”