Vascular-ventricular coupling during exercise is not affected by exaggerated blood pressures in endurance-trained athletes

Abstract

This study sought to examine whether cardiovascular performance during exercise, assessed using the vascular-ventricular coupling index (VVC), was affected by exaggerated blood pressure (EBP) responses in endurance-trained athletes. Subjects were middle-aged endurance-trained men and women. Blood pressure measurements and left ventricular echocardiography were performed in a semiupright position at rest and during steady-state cycling at workloads that elicited 100-110 beats/min ( stage 1 ) and 130-140 beats/min ( stage 2 ). These data were used to calculate effective arterial elastance index ( E a I), left ventricular end-systolic elastance index ( E LV I), and their ratio (VVC). Additional measurements of left ventricular volumes and function (i.e., stroke volume, cardiac output, and longitudinal strain) and indirect assessments of peripheral vascular function (i.e., total arterial compliance and peripheral vascular resistance) were examined. Fourteen subjects with EBP (EBP+, 50% men) and 14 sex-matched subjects without EBP (EBP-) participated, with results presented as EBP+ versus EBP-. E a I and E LV I increased from rest to exercise while VVC decreased, but only E LV I was different between groups at stage 1 [7.6 (1.8) vs. 6.4 (1.0) mmHg·ml -1 ·m -2 , P = 0.045] and stage 2 [10.3 (1.6) vs. 8.0 (1.7) mmHg·ml -1 ·m -2 , P E a I and E LV I, and the absence of between-group differences in left ventricular or peripheral vascular function suggests that other factors may contri…