Ignite Creation Date:
2024-05-06 @ 8:00 PM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 3:18 PM
Study NCT ID:
NCT06215014
Status:
RECRUITING
Last Update Posted:
2024-05-13
First Post:
2023-09-27
Brief Title:
Sex Effects on Blood Pressure With Handgrip Training
Sponsor:
University of Massachusetts Boston
Organization:
University of Massachusetts Boston
Study Overview
Official Title:
Sex Effects on Blood Pressure Regulation to Acute Isometric Handgrip Exercise Following 4 Weeks of Isometric Handgrip Training
Status:
RECRUITING
Status Verified Date:
2024-05
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
The goal of this intervention is to compare the blood pressure response of young females and males to a single bout of static handgrip exercise before and after static handgrip training 4 weeks
The main questions this study aims to answer are
Are the lowering blood pressure effects of static handgrip exercise training different between young females and males
Which factors explain the lowering blood pressure effects of static handgrip training and possible differences between sexes Is it an improved blood vessel dilation Is it a reduced stiffening of blood vessels Is it a reduced fight or flight response resulting in a lower heart rate and blood pumped by the heart into the vessels All the above
Which factors regulate blood pressure response during and immediately after a single bout of static handgrip exercise
All participants will be asked to
Visit the laboratory to perform static handgrip exercise - first visit
Participants will be randomized like flipping a coin to static handgrip exercise training or to a non-exercising phase with each phase lasting four weeks Participants will also complete the other condition handgrip or no handgrip after completing the first four-week condition
Return to the laboratory after the completion of both static handgrip training and no training to perform the static handgrip exercise of the first visit
The investigators will compare participants blood pressure response to a single bout static of handgrip exercise after training to their own blood pressure response to the same bout of exercise after the non-training period
The main questions this study aims to answer are
Are the lowering blood pressure effects of static handgrip exercise training different between young females and males
Which factors explain the lowering blood pressure effects of static handgrip training and possible differences between sexes Is it an improved blood vessel dilation Is it a reduced stiffening of blood vessels Is it a reduced fight or flight response resulting in a lower heart rate and blood pumped by the heart into the vessels All the above
Which factors regulate blood pressure response during and immediately after a single bout of static handgrip exercise
All participants will be asked to
Visit the laboratory to perform static handgrip exercise - first visit
Participants will be randomized like flipping a coin to static handgrip exercise training or to a non-exercising phase with each phase lasting four weeks Participants will also complete the other condition handgrip or no handgrip after completing the first four-week condition
Return to the laboratory after the completion of both static handgrip training and no training to perform the static handgrip exercise of the first visit
The investigators will compare participants blood pressure response to a single bout static of handgrip exercise after training to their own blood pressure response to the same bout of exercise after the non-training period
Detailed Description:
Hypertension is still the leading modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and a silent independent predictor of all-cause death worldwide Projections for the US suggest that 41 of adults will develop hypertension before 2030 Thus it is clinically relevant to optimize interventions aimed at preventing and managing hypertension
Isometric handgrip training holds promise to mitigate the growing prevalence of hypertension in healthy adults This form of exercise training can be performed at home requires less time investment compared to conventional training and requires only one piece of inexpensive equipment Interestingly some but not all studies suggest that isometric handgrip training yields superior antihypertensive effects in young healthy males compared to their female counterparts The mechanisms behind the antihypertensive effects of isometric handgrip training are yet to be determined Possible candidates include 1 increases in cardiovagal modulation and 2 increases in endothelial nitric oxide-dependent vasodilation coupled with reductions in arterial stiffness
The understanding of blood pressure BP regulation to acute isometric handgrip exercise would provide valuable mechanistic insight into possible sex-dependent antihypertensive effects of this form of training given that acute responses likely translate into antihypertensive training adaptations In fact in healthy young adults an acute bout of isometric handgrip exercise has been shown to evoke a higher blood pressure response in males compared to females immediately after exercise cessation Given that higher hypertensive responses to acute isometric handgrip exercise are associated with greater reductions in resting BP following isometric handgrip training this could explain the larger antihypertensive effects reported in young males Importantly young females are generally less fatigable to isometric handgrip exercise performed at the same relative intensity than males This sex difference in muscle fatigability relates to the larger muscle mass and strength of males leading to higher intramuscular pressures that compress feeding arteries but also to the smaller increments in blood pressure of females to exercise Importantly whether this sex difference in fatigability and blood pressure during acute isometric handgrip exercise limits the potential for blood pressure-related adaptations to handgrip training in females is unknown In addition young females also exhibit a faster BP recovery to acute isometric handgrip exercise than their male counterparts Mechanistically this faster recovery is in part attributed to faster cardiovagal reactivation and higher increases in baroreflex sensitivity observed in females but not in males However whether other regulatory mechanisms such as increases in endothelial nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation and or reductions in sympathetic outflow to blood vessels contribute to this apparently faster blood pressure recovery in females after a hypertensive stimulus is unknown In addition blood flow and baroreflex dynamics interplay during isometric handgrip exercise are largely unknown which might provide valuable insight into blood pressure regulation after exercise cessation
Therefore the specific aims of this study are threefold
Aim 1 - To examine if the effects of a 4-week isometric handgrip training intervention on BP regulation to a fatiguing bout of isometric handgrip exercise are sex- dependent in young healthy adults with normal BP
Aim 2 - To examine if blood pressure responses are sex-dependent during and after a fatiguing bout of isometric handgrip exercise at 30 maximum voluntary contraction in healthy young adults with normal blood pressure
Aim 3 - To determine the effects of sex on the regulatory mechanisms of blood pressure including cardiac autonomic and vascular function during and after a fatiguing bout of isometric handgrip exercise in healthy young adults with normal BP
Isometric handgrip training holds promise to mitigate the growing prevalence of hypertension in healthy adults This form of exercise training can be performed at home requires less time investment compared to conventional training and requires only one piece of inexpensive equipment Interestingly some but not all studies suggest that isometric handgrip training yields superior antihypertensive effects in young healthy males compared to their female counterparts The mechanisms behind the antihypertensive effects of isometric handgrip training are yet to be determined Possible candidates include 1 increases in cardiovagal modulation and 2 increases in endothelial nitric oxide-dependent vasodilation coupled with reductions in arterial stiffness
The understanding of blood pressure BP regulation to acute isometric handgrip exercise would provide valuable mechanistic insight into possible sex-dependent antihypertensive effects of this form of training given that acute responses likely translate into antihypertensive training adaptations In fact in healthy young adults an acute bout of isometric handgrip exercise has been shown to evoke a higher blood pressure response in males compared to females immediately after exercise cessation Given that higher hypertensive responses to acute isometric handgrip exercise are associated with greater reductions in resting BP following isometric handgrip training this could explain the larger antihypertensive effects reported in young males Importantly young females are generally less fatigable to isometric handgrip exercise performed at the same relative intensity than males This sex difference in muscle fatigability relates to the larger muscle mass and strength of males leading to higher intramuscular pressures that compress feeding arteries but also to the smaller increments in blood pressure of females to exercise Importantly whether this sex difference in fatigability and blood pressure during acute isometric handgrip exercise limits the potential for blood pressure-related adaptations to handgrip training in females is unknown In addition young females also exhibit a faster BP recovery to acute isometric handgrip exercise than their male counterparts Mechanistically this faster recovery is in part attributed to faster cardiovagal reactivation and higher increases in baroreflex sensitivity observed in females but not in males However whether other regulatory mechanisms such as increases in endothelial nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation and or reductions in sympathetic outflow to blood vessels contribute to this apparently faster blood pressure recovery in females after a hypertensive stimulus is unknown In addition blood flow and baroreflex dynamics interplay during isometric handgrip exercise are largely unknown which might provide valuable insight into blood pressure regulation after exercise cessation
Therefore the specific aims of this study are threefold
Aim 1 - To examine if the effects of a 4-week isometric handgrip training intervention on BP regulation to a fatiguing bout of isometric handgrip exercise are sex- dependent in young healthy adults with normal BP
Aim 2 - To examine if blood pressure responses are sex-dependent during and after a fatiguing bout of isometric handgrip exercise at 30 maximum voluntary contraction in healthy young adults with normal blood pressure
Aim 3 - To determine the effects of sex on the regulatory mechanisms of blood pressure including cardiac autonomic and vascular function during and after a fatiguing bout of isometric handgrip exercise in healthy young adults with normal BP
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
False
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
False
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None