title: Determinants of muscle metaboreflex and involvement of baroreflex in boys and young men.
abstract: This study aimed to assess the arterial pressure (AP) determinants during the muscle metaboreflex in boys and men and to investigate the contribution of baroreflex and sympathovagal function to the metaboreflex-induced responses. Fourteen pre-adolescent boys and 13 men performed a protocol involving: baseline, isometric handgrip exercise, circulatory occlusion, and recovery. The same protocol was repeated without occlusion. During baseline, boys had lower beat-to-beat AP, higher heart rate (HR), and lower low/high frequency HR variability. During exercise, a parasympathetic withdrawal was evident in both groups. In adults, HR was the key contributor to the pressure response, with no changes in stroke volume, whereas in boys, the lower HR increase was counterbalanced by an increase in stroke volume, resulting in similar relative increases in AP in both groups. In recovery, boys exhibited a faster rate of HR-decay, rapid vagal reactivation, and greater decrease in TPR than men. An overshoot in baroreceptor sensitivity was observed in men. The isolated metaboreflex resulted in a similar AP elevation in both age groups (by ~15 mmHg), and attenuated spontaneous baroreceptor sensitivity. However, during the metaboreflex, pre-adolescent males exhibited a lower increase in peripheral resistance and a greater bradycardic response than adults, and a fast restoration of vagal activity to non-occlusion levels. During metaboreflex, boys were capable of eliciting a pressure response similar to the one elicited by men; however, the interplay of the mechanisms underlying the rise in AP differed between the two groups with the vagal contribution being greater in the younger participants.
authors.affiliation: Exercise Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Agios Ioannis, 62110 Serres, Greece. kdipla@phed-sr.auth.gr
authors.forename: Konstantina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dipla
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zafeiridis
authors.forename: Antonios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kyparos
authors.forename: Michalis G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Nikolaidis
authors.forename: Ioannis S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Vrabas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D062186:Arterial Pressure; D017704:Baroreflex; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise; D018737:Hand Strength; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D007537:Isometric Contraction; D008297:Male; D009132:Muscles / Q000098:blood supply / Q000294:innervation* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012737:Sex Factors; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D034941:Upper Extremity; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D014655:Vascular Resistance; D055815:Young Adult