Sex-related differences in rapid-onset vasodilation: impact of aging.
J Appl Physiol (1985)
; 130(1): 206-214, 2021 01 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33119464
ABSTRACT
Rapid-onset vasodilation (ROV) in response to a single muscle contraction is attenuated with aging. Moreover, sex-related differences in muscle blood flow and vasodilation during dynamic exercise have been observed in young and older adults. The purpose of the present study was to explore if sex-related differences in ROV exist in young (n = 36, 25 ± 1 yr) and older (n = 32, 66 ± 1 yr) adults. Subjects performed single forearm contractions at 10%, 20%, and 40% maximal voluntary contraction. Brachial artery blood velocity and diameter were measured with Doppler ultrasound, and forearm vascular conductance (mL·min-1·100 mmHg-1) was calculated from blood flow (mL·min-1) and mean arterial pressure (mmHg) and used as a measure of ROV. Peak ROV was attenuated in women across all relative intensities in the younger and older groups (P < 0.05). In a subset of subjects with similar absolute workloads (â¼5 kg and â¼11 kg), age-related differences in ROV were observed among both women and men (P < 0.05). However, only older women demonstrated an attenuated peak ROV compared with men (91 ± 6 vs. 121 ± 11 mL·min-1·100 mmHg-1, P < 0.05), a difference not observed in the young group (134 ± 8 vs. 154 ± 11 mL·min-1·100 mmHg-1, P = 0.15). Additionally, examining the slope of peak ROV across contraction intensities indicated a blunted response in older women compared with their younger counterparts (P < 0.05), with no differences observed between older and young men (P = 0.38). Our data suggest that sex-related differences in the rapid vasodilatory response to single muscle contractions exist in older but not young adults, such that older women have a blunted response compared with older men.NEW & NOTEWORTHY While rapid-onset vasodilation (ROV) has been shown to decrease in older individuals, it is unclear if sex contributes to the decline with aging. We sought to identify if sex-related differences exist in the ROV response to single forearm contractions in young and older adults. Our data suggest sex-related differences are present among older but not young individuals, with women having an attenuated response. These data indicate sex plays a role in decreased vasodilation with aging.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Vasodilation
/
Muscle, Skeletal
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
J Appl Physiol (1985)
Journal subject:
FISIOLOGIA
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article