Effect of intense aerobic exercise on forearm blood flow and postprandial lipemia in normotensive offspring of hypertensive parents

Abstract

High blood pressure is a common risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Due to its heredity in nature, offspring of hypertensive parents (OHT) are at high risk of impairment of vascular function and development of hypertension according to their parental history of hypertension. Objective : To study postprandial forearm blood flow and blood lipid levels in response to a high intensity aerobic exercise in young individuals whose parents are hypertensive. Methods : Normotensive young men were categorized into OHT and ONT (offspring of normotensive parents) groups. All subjects underwent randomized cross over 2 experimental conditions: standard meal without exercise (control; NoEx) and standard meal with exercise (Ex). In both occasions, forearm blood flow during reactive hyperemia using venous occlusion plethysmography and blood lipids were determined at baseline and 2 and 4 hours postprandially. Results : Fifteen OHT (age 20-28 years) and 15 ONT (age 21-28 years) participated in this study. In control condition , the OHT group had a significantly lower AUCRH (802.1±28.3 vs 780.3±18.5 ml/100ml, p <0.014), but a higher triglyceride level (179±57 vs 233±84 mg/dl, p<0.01) than the ONT group, at 4-hour postprandially, However, when exercise was performed prior to meal ingestion, both groups had a significant increase in 4-hr postprandial AUCRH (780.3±18.5 vs 800.1± 28.2ml/100ml, p<0.01 for OHT and 802.1±28.3 vs 808.4±26.3 ml/100ml, p< 0.02 for ONT). However, a significant decrease in postprandial TG with exercise was demonstrated only in OHT group (233±84 vs 167±58 mg/dl, p<0.05 in OHT and 179±57 vs 158±58 mg/dl, p=0.21 in ONT). Conclusion : OHT was affected from postprandial lipemia more than ONT. The evidence include increasing of endothelial dysfunction and delayed clearance of TG. The high intensity aerobic exercise was an effective measure to reduce lipemia induced impairment of vascular function in normotensive young individuals with or without a family history of hypertension.