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THE EFFECTS OF SHORT-TERM EXERCISE REMOVAL ON FLOW-MEDIATED DILATION IN YOUNGER AND OLDER ADULTS

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Endothelial function is negatively associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. Our lab previously demonstrated that young, active adults experience impaired endothelial function following 5 days of physical inactivity. Whether this occurs in older, active adults who may be more prone to bouts of inactivity is unknown. This study determined if endothelial function, as measured by flow-mediated dilation (FMD), was impaired in active, older adults (>55 yr.) following removal of exercise for 5 days compared to active, young adults (18-40yr.). METHODS: Popliteal and brachial artery FMD were measured at baseline and during days 3 (3dNOEX) and 5 (5dNOEX) of removal of exercise in 8 active, older (Age: 67±2.6 yr., BMI: 27±1.5 kg/m2) individuals and 8 active, young (Age: 24±0.9 yr., BMI: 25±1.1 kg/m2) individuals. RESULTS: Steps/day was significantly reduced during removal of exercise in both the young (Bl: 7470.0±974.7, NOEX: 2627.6±338.8) and old (Bl: 6510.7±604.8, NOEX: 3188.2±451.9) subjects (p<0.05). There were no significant main effects of age or time between older and younger subjects on popliteal artery baseline diameter (Young: 5.73±0.41 mm, Old: 5.22±0.41 mm) (Bl: 5.49±0.29 mm, 3dNOEX: 5.47±0.29 mm, 5dNOEX: 5.46±0.29 mm) (p>0.05). However, there was a main effect of time (p=0.02) in popliteal artery %FMD (Bl: 6.44%±0.60, 3dNOEX: 5.71%±0.60, 5dNOEX: 5.00%±0.60) with day 5 being lower than baseline. No main effect of age in popliteal artery %FMD was found (Young: 6.29%±0.75, Old: 5.15%±0.75) (p>0.05). Brachial artery baseline diameter and %FMD was unaltered across age and time (baseline diameter: Young: 4.06±0.21 mm, Old: 3.72±0.21 mm and Bl: 3.90±0.15 mm, 3dNOEX: 3.89±0.15 mm, 5dNOEX: 3.88±0.15 mm) (%FMD: Young: 7.06%±0.86, Old: 6.16%±0.86 and Bl: 7.11%±0.72, 3dNOEX: 6.45%±0.72, 5dNOEX: 6.28%±0.72) (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary data suggest that %FMD in the popliteal artery is susceptible to impairments following removal of exercise, but that it is not different between older and younger subjects. Future efforts in our laboratory will aim to increase the sample size of each group to ensure that lack of differences between older and younger subjects are not merely due to the small sample size.

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