Abstract
Purpose
We hypothesized exercise vasodilation would be greater in women due to nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX) signaling.
Methods
45 healthy adults (23 women, W, 22 men, M, 26 ± 1 years) completed two 10-min trials of dynamic forearm exercise at 15 % intensity. Forearm blood flow (FBF; Doppler ultrasound), arterial pressure (brachial catheter), and forearm lean mass were measured to calculate relative forearm vascular conductance (FVCrel) = FBF 100 mmHg−1 100 g−1 lean mass. Local intra-arterial infusion of L-NMMA or ketorolac acutely inhibited NOS and COX, respectively. In Trial 1, the first 5 min served as control exercise (CON), followed by 5 min of L-NMMA or ketorolac over the last 5 min of exercise. In Trial 2, the remaining drug was infused during 5–10 min, to achieve combined NOS–COX inhibition (double blockade, DB).
Results
Are mean ± SE. Women exhibited 29 % greater vasodilation in CON (ΔFVCrel, 19 ± 1 vs. 15 ± 1, p = 0.01). L-NMMA reduced ΔFVCrel (p < 0.001) (W: Δ −2.3 ± 1.3 vs. M: Δ −3.7 ± 0.8, p = 0.25); whereas, ketorolac modestly increased ΔFVCrel (p = 0.04) similarly between sexes (W: Δ 1.6 ± 1.1 vs. M: Δ 2.0 ± 1.6, p = 0.78). DB was also found to be similar between the sexes (p = 0.85).
Conclusion
These data clearly indicate women produce a greater exercise vasodilator response. Furthermore, contrary to experiments in animal models, these data are the first to demonstrate vascular control by NOS and COX is similar between sexes.
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Abbreviations
- ASAs:
-
Acetylsalicylic acid
- BMI:
-
Body mass index
- CON:
-
Control exercise
- COX:
-
Cyclooxygenase
- DEXA:
-
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
- DB:
-
Double blockade, NOS–COX inhibition condition
- ECG:
-
Electrocardiogram
- EDHF:
-
Endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor
- FBF:
-
Forearm blood flow
- FVC:
-
Forearm vascular conductance
- KETO:
-
Ketorolac, COX inhibition condition
- L-NMMA:
-
L-NG-monomethyl arginine, NOS inhibition condition
- MAP:
-
Mean arterial pressure
- MBV:
-
Mean blood velocity
- MVC:
-
Maximal voluntary contraction
- NOS:
-
Nitric oxide synthase
- NSAIDs:
-
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs acetylsalicylic acid
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the subjects for their time and effort. We would also like to acknowledge Meghan Crain, Garrett Peltonen, Joshua Trierweiler, and Cameron Rousseau, for their help in data collection. The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, through the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), supported the described project grant UL1TR000427. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. Funding: NIH HL-105820.
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The authors have no conflicts of interests and nothing to disclose.
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Communicated by Massimo Pagani.
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Kellawan, J.M., Johansson, R.E., Harrell, J.W. et al. Exercise vasodilation is greater in women: contributions of nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase. Eur J Appl Physiol 115, 1735–1746 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3160-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3160-6