Effect of gender on training-induced vascular remodeling in SHR

There is accumulating evidence that physical inactivity, associated with the modern sedentary lifestyle, is a major determinant of hypertension. It represents the most important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for both men and women. In addition to involving sympathetic overactivity that alters hemodynamic parameters, hypertension is accompanied by several abnormalities in the skeletal muscle circulation including vessel rarefaction and increased arteriole wall-to-lumen ratio, which contribute to increased total peripheral resistance. Low-intensity aerobic training is a promising tool for the prevention, treatment and control of high blood pressure, but its efficacy may differ between men and women and between male and female animals. This review focuses on peripheral training-induced adaptations that contribute to a blood pressure-lowering effect, with special attention to differential responses in male and female spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Heart, diaphragm and skeletal muscle arterioles (but not kidney arterioles) undergo eutrophic outward remodeling in trained male SHR, which contributed to a reduction of peripheral resistance and to a pressure fall. In contrast, trained female SHR showed no change in arteriole wall-to-lumen ratio and no pressure fall. On the other hand, training-induced adaptive changes in capillaries and venules (increased density) were similar in male and female SHR, supporting a similar hyperemic response to exercise.

Time course of training-induced microcirculatory changes and of vegf expression in skeletal muscles of spontaneously hypertensive female rats

Exercise-induced vessel changes modulate arterial pressure (AP) in male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is important for angiogenesis of skeletal muscle. The present study evaluated the time course of VEGF and angiogenesis after short- and long-term exercise training of female SHR and Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats, 8-9 weeks (200-250 g). Rats were allocated to daily training or remained sedentary for 3 days (N = 23) or 13 weeks (N = 23). After training, the carotid artery was catheterized for AP measurements. Locomotor (tibialis anterior and gracilis) and non-locomotor skeletal muscles (temporalis) were harvested and prepared for histologic and protein expression analyses. Training increased treadmill performance by all groups (SHR = 28 percent, WKY = 64 percent, 3 days) and (SHR = 141 percent, WKY = 122 percent, 13 weeks). SHR had higher values of AP than WKY (174 ± 4 vs 111 ± 2 mmHg) that were not altered by training. Three days of running increased VEGF expression (SHR = 28 percent, WKY = 36 percent) simultaneously with an increase in capillary-to-fiber ratio in gracilis muscle (SHR = 19 percent, WKY = 15 percent). In contrast, 13 weeks of training increased gracilis capillary-to-fiber ratio (SHR = 18 percent, WKY = 19 percent), without simultaneous changes in VEGF expression. Training did not change VEGF expression and capillarity of temporalis muscle. We conclude that training stimulates time- and tissue-dependent VEGF protein expression, independent of pressure levels. VEGF triggers angiogenesis in locomotor skeletal muscle shortly after the exercise starts, but is not involved in the maintenance of capillarity after long-term exercise in female rats.

Endogenous vasopressin and the central control of heart rate during dynamic exercise

The present article contains a brief review on the role of vasopressinergic projections to the nucleus tractus solitarii in the genesis of reflex bradycardia and in the modulation of heart rate control during exercise. The effects of vasopressin on exercise tachycardia are discussed on the basis of both the endogenous peptide content changes and the heart rate response changes observed during running in sedentary and trained rats. Dynamic exercise caused a specific vasopressin content increase in dorsal and ventral brainstem areas. In accordance, rats pretreated with the peptide or the V1 blocker into the nucleus tractus solitarii showed a significant potentiation or a marked blunting of the exercise tachycardia, respectively, without any change in the pressure response to exercise. It is proposed that the long-descending vasopressinergic pathway to the nucleus tractus solitarii serves as one link between the two main neural controllers of circulation, i.e., the central command and feedback control mechanisms driven by the peripheral receptors. Therefore, vasopressinergic input could contribute to the adjustment of heart rate response (and cardiac output) to the circulatory demand during exercise.

Validation of transit-time flowmetry for chronic measurements of regional blood flow in resting and exercising rats

The objective of the present study was to validate the transit-time technique for long-term measurements of iliac and renal blood flow in rats. Flow measured with ultrasonic probes was confirmed ex vivo using excised arteries perfused at varying flow rates. An implanted 1-mm probe reproduced with accuracy different patterns of flow relative to pressure in freely moving rats and accurately quantitated the resting iliac flow value (on average 10.43 + 0.99 ml/min or 2.78 + 0.3 ml min(-1) 100 g body weight(-1)). The measurements were stable over an experimental period of one week but were affected by probe size (resting flows were underestimated by 57 per cent with a 2-mm probe when compared with a 1-mm probe) and by anesthesia (in the same rats, iliac flow was reduced by 50-60 per cent when compared to the conscious state). Instantaneous changes of iliac and renal flow during excercise and recovery were accurately measured by the transit-time technique. Iliac flow increased instantaneously at the beginning of mild exercise (from 12.03 + 1.06 to 22.55 + 3.89 ml/min at 15 s) and showed a smaller increase when exercise intensity increased further, reaching a plateau of 38.43 + 1.92 ml/min at the 4th min of moderate exercise intensity. In contrast, exercise-induced reduction of renal flow was smaller and slower, with 18 per cent and 25 per cent decreases at mild and moderate exercise intensities. Our data indicate that transit-time flowmetry is a reliable method for long-term and continuous measurementes of regional blood flow at rest and can be used to quantitate the dynamic flow changes that characterize exercise and recovery.

Vasopressin in the nucleus tractus solitarius: a modulator of baroreceptor reflex control of heart rate

1. The main role of the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) as a relay center for viscerosensory fibers from the periphery and for pathways from modulatory autonomic centers is reviewed on the basis of its anatomical connections and neurotransmitter content. 2. Vasopressin is present in the entire neuroaxis and is of great importance in the control of cardiovascular function. The high endogenous content and receptor density, and the unique organization of vasopressin fibers projecting to the NTS are fundamental features for the modulatory effect exerted by vasopressin at the NTS on the baroreceptor reflex control of heart rate. 3. Vasopressinergic pathways from the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus to the NTS constitute a physiological mechanism for the tonic maintenance of the baroreflex sensitivity and for displacing the heart rate response to higher values during increased activity, without changing the baroreflex sensitivity. This type of mechanism should play an important role in facilitating the tachycardic response during isotonic exercise.