title: Cardiovascular reactivity, coronary risk factors, and sympathetic activity in young men.
abstract: We have previously demonstrated that awareness of high blood pressure may increase blood pressure, plasma catecholamine levels, and stress responses. In the present study, three groups of 19-year-old men, all unaware of their blood pressure status, were selected from the first (group-1, 62 +/- 2 mm Hg, [mean +/- SEM], n = 15), 50th (group-50, 90 +/- 4 mm Hg, n = 15), and 99th (group-99, 123 +/- 5 mm Hg, n = 14) percentiles in causal mean blood pressure at a screening. They were studied (blinded examiners) with intra-arterial blood pressure recordings and multiple measurements of arterial plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine during a mental arithmetic challenge and cold pressor test. Despite high mean blood pressure at the screening, group-99 did not differ from group-50 either in intra-arterial mean blood pressure after 30 minutes of supine rest (89 +/- 3 versus 86 +/- 2 mm Hg) or in serum lipids and resting plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine. However, in group-99 resting plasma epinephrine showed a positive hyperbolic relation to resting diastolic blood pressure (r = .73, P = .004) and a negative hyperbolic relation to the ratio of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol to total cholesterol (r = -.75, P = .002). None of these correlations were present in the two other groups. Furthermore, the three groups differed in heart rate responses (P < .0005) and systolic (P < .0005) and diastolic (P < .05) blood pressure responses to mental arithmetic challenge, group-99 being hyperreactive compared with the other two groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Ullevål Hospital, University of Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rostrup
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Westheim
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kjeldsen
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Eide
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003080:Cold Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000209:etiology*; D003971:Diastole; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000097:blood; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000097:blood; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013599:Systole
chemical_list: D009638:Norepinephrine; D004837:Epinephrine