Role of nitric oxide and prostanoids in the regulation of leg blood flow and blood pressure in humans with essential hypertension: effect of high-intensity aerobic training

Michael Permin Nyberg, Lasse Gliemann Jensen, Pia Thaning, Ylva Hellsten, Stefan Peter Mortensen

    57 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We examined the role of nitric oxide (NO) and prostanoids in the regulation of leg blood flow and systemic blood pressure before and after 8 weeks of aerobic high-intensity training in individuals with essential hypertension (n= 10) and matched healthy control subjects (n= 11). Hypertensive subjects were found to have a lower (P < 0.05) blood flow to the exercising leg than normotensive subjects (30 W: 2.92 ± 0.16 vs. 3.39 ± 0.37 l min -1). Despite the lower exercise hyperaemia, pharmacological inhibition of the NO and prostanoid systems reduced leg blood flow to a similar extent during exercise in the two groups and vascular relaxation to the NO-dependent vasodilator acetylcholine was also similar between groups. High-intensity aerobic training lowered (P < 0.05) resting systolic (~9 mmHg) and diastolic (~12 mmHg) blood pressure in subjects with essential hypertension, but this effect of training was abolished when the NO and prostanoid systems were inhibited. Skeletal muscle vascular endothelial NO synthase uncoupling, expression and phosphorylation status were similar in the two groups before and after training. These data demonstrate that a reduction in exercise hyperaemia in hypertensive subjects is not associated with a reduced capacity of the NO and prostanoid systems to induce vasodilatation or with altered acetylcholine-induced response. However, our data suggest that the observed reduction in blood pressure is related to a training-induced change in the tonic effect of NO and/or prostanoids on vascular tone.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalJournal of Physiology
    Volume590
    Issue number6
    Pages (from-to)1481-1494
    Number of pages14
    ISSN0022-3751
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2012

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Role of nitric oxide and prostanoids in the regulation of leg blood flow and blood pressure in humans with essential hypertension: effect of high-intensity aerobic training'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this