Acute Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Carotid Artery Compliance and Pulse Pressure Amplification

Objectives:The purpose of this study was to determine the acute effects of aerobic exercise on carotid arterial compliance(AC) in men and women.An additional purpose of this study was to determine the association between change in carotid AC and change in pulse pressure amplification(PPA) following a bout of acute aerobic exercise.Methods:Sixty-two healthy individuals(age 26±5yrs;32 male and 30 female) underwent measurements of HRmax and O2peak by Bruce model in the first test;and then underwent measurements of some variable of carotid and brachial at rest,30 minutes post and 60 minutes post a bout of acute exercise in 48 hours to 2 weeks after the first test.The acute exercise is a bout of 70% heart rate reserve aerobic exercise by treadmill continued 45 minutes.(target HR=(HRmax-HR at rest) ×70%+ HR at rest) Results:The change of carotid AC was difference(P<0.05) analyzed by 2×3(2 genders × 3 time points) repeated measures ANOVA;There was no change in the change of β-stiffness analyzed by 2×3 repeated measures ANOVA.There was a significant positive correlation(r=0.653,P=0.00) by person correlation analysis.Conclusion:The acute change of carotid AC was different between men and women following a bout of aerobic exercise.These different changes may be caused by sex hormones which influence vasodilatation mediated by H2 receptor.The increase(or decrease) of carotid AC may be an important factor to cause PPA to increase(or decrease) following a bout of aerobic exercise.